JAPAN, AUSTRALIA BACK CLOSER TRILATERAL DEFENSE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 06 TOKYO 000977 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/07/2012 TAGS: PREL MARR AS JA SUBJECT: JAPAN, AUSTRALIA BACK CLOSER TRILATERAL DEFENSE TIES REF: EAP/J PHAM - TOKYO POL-MIL/BLACKSHAW E-MAIL JANUARY 30 TOKYO 00000977 001.2 OF 006 Classified By: Ambassador J. Thomas Schieffer, reasons 1.4 (b, d). ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: Japanese and Australian defense and diplomatic officials endorsed a U.S. proposal for an Assistant Secretary-level Trilateral Security and Defense Cooperation Forum (SDCF),and called for an ambitious, "results-oriented" agenda for the new body focused on "early deliverables", during a February 14 planning meeting in Tokyo. The U.S. delegation, led by DUSD Lawless and EAP/J Director Zumwalt, proposed the first SDCF meeting be held on April 11-12, preferably in Hawaii. All parties agreed the April meeting agenda should include discussion of proposals for new or enhanced trilateral cooperation, including: -- ballistic missile defense lessons learned and exercises; -- coordinating military assets for humanitarian missions, including airlift; -- trilateral participation in the USS Pelelieu humanitarian mission in Southeast Asia; -- trilateral P-3 maritime surveillance training/exercises; -- crafting a trilateral approach to regional Intelligence, Surveillance and Recononnaissance (ISR),including through the use of HALE/UAV; -- strengthening procedures for handling sensitive information; -- joint/combined training possibilities using the Joint Combined Training Capability, and U.S. plans for training on Guam; -- improved coordination of maritime security training and exercises. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (C) U.S., Japanese and Australian defense and diplomatic officials met February 14 in Tokyo to discuss the U.S. proposal for a new Assistant Secretary-level body to advance trilateral security and defense cooperation. The Japanese and Australian delegations provided specific, positive feedback on a U.S.-proposed Terms of Reference (TOR) and Agenda for the new body, both of which had been passed to Japan and Australia through their embassies in Washington on January 27 (ref msg). ¶3. (C) The U.S. delegation was led by Deputy Under Secretary for Defense for Asian and Pacific Security Affairs Richard Lawless and EAP/J Director Jim Zumwalt, and included representatives from PACOM, PACFLT, U.S. Forces Japan, and Embassy Tokyo (NOTE: The Political-Military Bureau will be the State lead at formal meetings of the new body). Japan's senior representatives were MOD Deputy Director-General for Defense Policy Hironori Kanazawa and Defense Councilor Akira Kamata, and MOFA Deputy Director-General for North American Affairs Kazuyoshi Umemoto. Australia's delegation was headed by DOD First Assistant Secretary (A/S-equivalent) for International Policy Stephanie Foster, and DFAT Assistant Secretary (DAS-equivalent) for Strategic Affairs Bryce SIPDIS Hutchesson. See para 10 for full list of attendees. ¶4. (C) Japanese and Australian delegation heads stated that trilateral defense cooperation -- especially at the operational level -- was an idea whose time has come, and would add great value to existing trilateral initiatives, which are focused more on non-military, strategic-level cooperation. Japan MOD's Kanazawa saw the initiative as a natural pairing of his country's deep, long-standing alliance with the U.S., and its expanding defense ties with Australia. Japan-Australia ties had been strengthened through TOKYO 00000977 002.2 OF 006 on-the-ground cooperation in Iraq, he said, and would be enhanced further through the issuance of a "joint security declaration" during Prime Minister Howard's visit to Tokyo in mid-March. TERMS OF REFERENCE: PROVISIONAL AGREEMENT -------------- ¶5. (C) Provisional agreement was reached on a Terms of Reference (TOR) for the new body, based on minor adjustments at Australian and Japanese request (updated draft e-mailed to PM, EAP/J and OSD/APSA/Japan and Australia desks on February 20). The group's formal name would be the "Australia-Japan-U.S. Security and Defense Cooperation Forum", abbreviated SDCF, and it would meet twice yearly at the Assistant Secretary-level, with no meetings at a higher level anticipated. Charter members on the U.S. side would be DUSD Lawless and State Political-Military Bureau Acting A/S Stephen Mull. Japan's charter members would be MOD Defense Policy Director-General Ofuru and MOFA North American Affairs Director-General Nishimiya; Australian leads would be DOD First Assistant Secretary Stephanie Foster and a DFAT official to be determined. ¶6. (C) As defined in the draft TOR, the SDCF's purpose will be to advance trilateral security and defense cooperation by providing: visibility to ongoing initiatives; a venue for endorsing and launching new initiatives; regular review of new trilateral defense opportunities; and, resolution of policy obstacles to coordination. The SDCF would be separate from existing trilateral bodies, but would coordinate and support their initiatives as appropriate, seek to identify gaps, and avoid unproductive duplication of effort. AGENDA: DESIRE FOR "EARLY DELIVERABLES" -------------- ¶7. (C) Japanese and Australian representatives voiced support for an agenda for the SDCF's first meeting focused on "early deliverables" and "core defense cooperation". Discussion produced provisional agreement on the following agenda, in general priority order: BMD COOPERATION -------------- -- TRILATERAL MISSILE DEFENSE FORUM: All parties voiced support for the Trilateral Missile Defense Forum initiative organized by the U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA),and agreed it would be useful for the April SDCF meeting to receive a briefing on next steps for the Missile Defense Forum, based on the results of a February 22 MDA-led planning meeting. Australia DOD representative Foster said Canberra was enthusiastic to discuss BMD in a trilateral context, but noted that pending an internal government review of BMD strategy, Australian engagement would "primarily be at the policy and conceptual level." -- BMD EXERCISES: All parties expressed interest in viewing a demonstration of the MDA Command, Control and Battle Management Capability (C2BMC) at the April SDCF meeting; additionally, the parties agreed to receive lessons learned briefings on the February 2007 U.S.-Japan exercise "Keen Edge" and the multinational BMD exercise "Nimble Titan", with a focus on how to improve bilateral (and multinational) BMD coordination. DUSD Lawless underscored the U.S. interest in maintaining a focus on BMD cooperation in the SDCF. The TOKYO 00000977 003.2 OF 006 U.S.-Japan BMD relationship was still maturing in policy and operational terms, he said, and offered many useful insights for trilateral BMD coordination. MILITARY ASSETS IN HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE/DISASTER RELIEF -------------- -------------- -- AIRLIFT COOPERATION: Both Japanese and Australian delegations welcomed the U.S. proposal to hold a "Pacific Global Mobility Seminar" (PGMS) at Yokota Airbase near Tokyo in late March/early April. The PGMS will examine: air mobility roles, missions, and capabilities that the U.S., Japan and Australia bring to the Pacific theater; ways to increase military engagement and bring structure to sharing of airlift capabilities between U.S.-Japan-Australia and others as appropriate; and, policy obstacles to increased cooperation in this area. All agreed the outcome of the seminar should be briefed at the SDCF kick-off meeting. Australia DOD's Foster said that Canberra would take the lead on briefing the April meeting, as well as on developing a proposal by Canberra for a follow-on seminar focused on a broader range of logistics cooperation, including sealift. -- USS PELELIEU MISSION: Japanese and Australian representatives confirmed an interest in participating in the PACOM/Pacific Fleet (PACFLT)-coordinated humanitarian deployment of the USS Pelelieu, scheduled to visit Southeast Asian countries in summer 2007. Lawless said the U.S. side would present a detailed proposal, coordinated by PACFLT, prior to the April SDCF meeting on how Japanese and Australian troops could take part. Australia MOD's Foster said early details would be appreciated, given that Australian military engineers were in high demand. Participation of a military medical team might be easier, she noted. -- SOUTHEAST ASIA AVIAN FLU REMEDY DISTRIBUTION PLAN: Japan MOFA and MOD representatives advised shelving a U.S. proposal to craft a contingency plan to distribute, using trilateral military assets, Japan's stockpile of 800,000 doses of Tamiflu and avian flu response equipment warehoused in Singapore under a Japan-ASEAN agreement. The idea would be bureaucratically "complicated", as it would require buy-in from Japan's Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, which controls the stockpile. Japanese representatives agreed the item could be set aside "for possible future action" by the SDCF. Lawless emphasized that in the event of an outbreak, participants' respective defense agencies would be called upon to lead the response. He also noted that defense distribution mechanisms are not being discussed in any other bilateral or multilateral forum. Australia DOD's Foster commented that she shares both points of view, but would prefer that the SDCF focus on more short-term problems. She offered to take the U.S. concern back to Canberra. INTELLIGENCE, SURVEILLANCE AND RECONNAISSANCE (ISR) -------------- -------------- -- P-3 EXCHANGE: All parties supported making planned bilateral P-3C training and exercises into a trilateral enterprise. Australia MOD's Foster said Canberra "wants to see this become how we do business," noting she and Japan MOD representative Kamata had already discussed holding a trilateral exercise involving U.S. Navy assets to coincide with a planned Australian P-3C unit visit to Japan in September/October 2007. Foster volunteered that the TOKYO 00000977 004.2 OF 006 Australia side would present a status update on this initiative at the April SDCF meeting. -- HIGH ALTITUDE LONG ENDURANCE (HALE) UAV: Both Japanese and Australian delegates expressed interest in briefings at the SDCF on the U.S. operational concept for HALE UAV use in the Western Pacific, and on the PACAF-organized Global Hawk demonstration from Guam planned for summer 2007. Japan is interested in learning more about HALE UAV capability, as it considers whether to acquire such assets in the future, said Japan MOD's Kanazawa. Australia MOD's Foster noted that future UAV capabilities had been a subject of bilateral Japan-Australia defense discussions. DUSD Lawless said the U.S. would develop a briefing on the CONOPS and capabilities of the planned HALE deployment to Guam for the April SDCF meeting, and would ensure ahead of time that Japan is comfortable with how the topic is broached. -- INFORMATION SHARING PROCEDURES: Australia DOD's Foster agreed to organize a briefing to the April SDCF meeting on "best practices" regarding procedures for handling shared sensitive information, drawing lessons from U.S.-Australia bilateral arrangements (e.g. GSOMIA) to explore what a trilateral information-sharing arrangement might look like. DUSD Lawless stressed the importance of this issue in facilitating interoperability. Japanese representatives agreed it would be a valuable agenda item. JOINT/COMBINED TRAINING -------------- -- JOINT COMBINED TRAINING CAPABILITY (JCTC): Australia DOD's Foster offered to coordinate a detailed briefing on the U.S.-Australia Joint Combined Training Capability concept, which was progressing rapidly and which she expected to be validated through the bilateral exercise "Talisman Saber" scheduled for summer 2007. Japan MOD's Kanazawa expressed interest in learning more about the JCTC concept, and the potential it offered for trilateral training. -- TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES ON GUAM: DUSD Lawless offered to arrange a capabilities briefing to the SDCF regarding U.S. plans for Guam. While the U.S. would not include any specific proposal for trilateral training on the island at this stage, this was something the U.S. could perhaps offer in the future. Japan MOFA's Umemoto welcomed the offer of a U.S. briefing on Guam, noting that for Japan, consideration of actual training on the island was likely to be a "mid-to-long-term" issue. (NOTE: Australian Embassy Defense Attache officials informed Embassy Tokyo Pol-Mil in early February that Canberra does not at present have the budget to support training on Guam. END NOTE). MARITIME SECURITY/ANTI-PIRACY -------------- -- MARITIME EXERCISES AND TRAINING: All parties agreed the SDCF should be briefed on each country's existing regional training and exercise efforts on maritime security, in order to identify overlaps and potential for trilateral collaboration. Japan MOFA's Umemoto noted that legal distinctions between the roles of the Japan Coast Guard and the Japan Maritime Self Defense Force (JMSDF) made this a challenging issue for Japan. DUSD Lawless said that coast guard representatives of all three parties would be welcome to take part in SDCF briefings and discussion on this item. Lawless noted that, while trilateral counter-terrorism TOKYO 00000977 005.2 OF 006 discussions had touched on maritime security, there had been little headway in identifying how the three countries' initiatives could complement ONE another. EAP/J Director Zumwalt noted that State was comfortable with SDCF becoming the lead trilateral body on maritime security matters. -- INTEROPERABILITY ISSUES: All welcomed a proposal by Australia MOD's Foster to coordinate a briefing to the April SDCF meeting on interoperability between naval and coast guard assets involved in regional maritime security efforts. The U.S. side also suggested Japan's MOFA could organize a brief highlighting relevant legal and bureaucratic challenges to interoperability (e.g. differing mandates of JMSDF and the Japan Coast Guard). NON-PROLIFERATION -------------- -- UNSCR 1718 UPDATE: U.S. and Australian representatives agreed it would be helpful for the April SDCF meeting to hear a progress update on efforts by the Trilateral Working Group on the Implementation of UNSCR 1718, concerning sanctions on North Korea. Japan MOFA's Umemoto, noting that it would be problematic to make any decisions on 1718 implementation in the absence of other inter-agency partners, said Japan would consider the proposal further. DUSD Lawless assured that the SDCF would be in "receive mode," and that the goal of an update briefing would simply be to raise situational awareness of defense equities in the Trilateral Working Group. CAPACITY BUILDING -------------- -- GLOBAL PEACE OPERATIONS INITIATIVE (GPOI): All welcomed an offer by Australia MOD's Foster to organize a briefing to the SDCF on U.S.-Australia initiatives under GPOI, how GPOI fits with regional priorities, and potential areas for trilateral cooperation. Japan MOFA's Umemoto, while noting that the use of Japanese official aid money was restricted to civilian agencies, welcomed a briefing so long as there was no expectation of "quick results." Japan MOD's Kamata expressed interest in learning what practical role Japan could play in GPOI, noting that Self-Defense Force officers had observed a GPOI-related training program for Mongolian peacekeepers in June 2006. -- AFGHANISTAN: Japanese and Australian representatives favored setting aside discussion of trilateral defense cooperation in Afghanistan as an "item for possible future action." NEXT STEPS -------------- ¶8. (C) On timing and venue for the inaugural SDCF principals meeting, the U.S. delegation proposed April 11-12 in Hawaii. Japanese delegates noted that, due to the ongoing Diet session, their Director-General-level principals would have an unpredictable schedule that could change at short notice. Japan MOFA and MOD officials indicated subsequent to the meeting with DUSD Lawless that, even if their principals ended up having to attend the Diet, they could still likely join the initial kick-off SDCF session by video tele-conference (VTC). ¶9. (C) Japan MOFA officials have informed Embassy that MOD and MOFA officials will provide consolidated feedback in the TOKYO 00000977 006.2 OF 006 week of March 12 to the updated draft SDCF Agenda and TOR passed to their Embassy in Washington the week of February 19. ATTENDEES -------------- ¶10. (C) Attendees at the February 13 organizational meeting included the following individuals: -- U.S.: Richard Lawless, DUSD for Asian & Pacific Security Affairs Jim Zumwalt, Director, EAP/J POL M/C Mike Meserve, Embassy Tokyo MajGen Timothy Larsen, Deputy Commander, U.S. Forces Japan Brig Gen Bobby Wilkes, NE Asia J5, Joint Staff Suzanne Basalla, OSD Senior Country Director for Japan Ray Greene, POL-MIL Chief, Embassy Tokyo Col Guy Yaeger, J530, PACOM COL Paul Vosti, J5, USFJ CAPT Mark Welch, Defense Attache, U.S. Embassy Dean Vaughn, Japan/BMD Affairs, Pacific Fleet (PACFLT) Jason Hamm, OSD Country Director for Japan Brett Blackshaw, POL-MIL Deputy, Embassy Tokyo Lt Col Rick Weir, NE Asia J5/Japan, Joint Staff -- JAPAN: (MOFA) Kazuyoshi Umemoto, Deputy Director-General (DDG),North American Affairs Bureau Jun Shinmi, Director, National Security Division Junji Shimada, Director, U.S.-Japan Security Treaty Division Hideki Asari, Director, Oceania Division Takehiro Funakoshi, Senior Coordinator, Policy Coordination Division Noriaki Abe, Deputy, U.S.-Japan Security Treaty Division (MOD) Hironori Kanazawa, DDG, Defense Policy Bureau Akira Kamata, DDG and Defense Councilor CAPT Tetsuro Doshita, J5, Joint Staff Office Ro Manabe, Director, Defense Policy Division Yukinari Hirose, Director, Int'l Policy Planning Division Masami Oka, Senior Coordinator, Defense Policy Division Mitsuko Hayashi, Deputy, Int'l Policy Planning Division -- AUSTRALIA: Stephanie Foster, First Assistant Secretary, International Policy Division, DOD Bryce Hutchesson, Assistant Secretary, Strategic Affairs Branch, DFAT Bruce Miller, POL M/C, Australian Embassy Tokyo Group Captain Matt Dudley, Defense Attache, Australian Embassy Tokyo Jenny Bloomfield, Political Counselor, Australian Embassy Tokyo Don Elliott, Counselor, Strategic-Political Affairs Australian Embassy Tokyo Andrew Willis, Second Secretary, Australian Embassy Tokyo SCHIEFFER