Secretary Antony J. Blinken Remarks to the Press
Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State
Tokyo, Japan
Kantei
SECRETARY BLINKEN: Well, good afternoon. Let me begin just by thanking the prime minister, my friend the foreign minister, actually all of my Japanese colleagues over these past four years, for the work we’ve done together, for their friendship, for their partnership.
When I took this job, the first instruction President Biden gave me was to do everything possible to re-energize, rejuvenate, in some cases even reimagine, our alliances and partnerships. And it’s not by accident the very first trip that I made as Secretary of State was here to Japan, that I’ve traveled here seven times over the course of these four years, and that in fact my last trip as Secretary brings me to Japan.
It points to the centrality of the U.S.-Japan alliance and partnership for the United States, the importance that we attach to it. And we’ve seen that alliance develop in extraordinary ways, moving over time from a bilateral relationship focused on issues between us to a regional focus and now to a global focus, where Japan and the United States together are of course for progress, for good, for making a difference in the lives of our people and people around the world.
And I think as we look at the last four years we’ve seen an alliance, a partnership, a friendship that’s grown stronger than it’s ever been before. If you look at what we’ve done together on strengthening our security partnership relationship, modernizing our command and control, working together on defense coproduction so that we can strengthen our defense industrial base, have an even stronger deterrent – remarkable steps just in these last few years.
Our economies are extraordinarily intertwined. We are the largest investors in each other’s economies. We work together to strengthen and build more resilient supply chains, critical minerals security, shaping the rules of things like artificial intelligence. And in each of these ways and so many more, we’re strengthening the foundation for many years to come.
And then acting together, we have strengthened or built new networks of partners across the region and around the world: the trilateral relationship between Japan, the Republic of Korea, and the United States; the trilateral partnership with Japan and the Philippines; revitalizing the Quad with India and Australia. We see in these and so many other ways Japan and the United States at the heart of critical partnerships networks that are tackling issues that are making a big difference in the lives of our citizens.
And of course, we’ve also seen together that increasingly security around the world is indivisible. When Russia committed its aggression against Ukraine in 2022, one of the first countries to stand up strongly for Ukraine was Japan. There was a recognition here and something that, because Japan saw it and recognized it and stood up, resonated around the world; a recognition here that the aggression that Russia was committing was not only against Ukraine, not only against the Ukrainian people, but against the very principles that are at the heart of the international system, principles designed to keep peace, to keep security, that are at the heart of the UN Charter, like territorial integrity, sovereignty, independence. Japan’s voice, Japan’s leadership in standing up for those principles, has made a huge difference.
So as I’m looking at this at this time and as I reflect on the four years but also as I project forward, it seems to me that we have between our countries is something exceptional, something that transcends any one leader, any one government, any one administration; founded on shared ideas, shared ideals, a shared vision for what the future can and should be for our people.
And for me that’s a source of tremendous confidence because we’re living in a time where there’s a greater premium than ever before in likeminded countries finding ways to work together, to coordinate, to cooperate, to communicate. Japan and the United States are leading the way, and I have great confidence that will continue for many, many years to come.
Ambassador, you’ve been a remarkable part of this, and I just want to invite you as you’re also leaving post to say a few words.
AMBASSADOR EMANUEL: Well, first of all, what I would say is that I want to echo what the Secretary said. Which is if you think four years ago around this time where the relationship was, and you think about where it is today, you have something that’s 180 degrees different. But as we all both know, having been through many of administrations, this is not a end point, an equilibrium; it’s a marathon where you hand the baton off to the next runner.
And I can say with confidence that we’re handing off an alliance that has been – as you’ve heard me before – is was focused for 30 years on alliance protection. It is now about alliance projection – both its values, its interests, security partnership, but also its diplomatic partnership. Wherever you go in the region and around the globe, the United States and Japan stand shoulder-to-shoulder, see eye-to-eye the same situation, work hand-in-hand in solving those problems. The world, this region, the alliance is better because we’re not just allies by treaty; we’re also friends. And when you have a friendship like that, you can do invincible things that change the world.
SECRETARY BLINKEN: Thanks, everyone.
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