TOKYO (NEWSnet/AP) — Defense chiefs and diplomats from U.S. and Japan agreed to bolster military cooperation by upgrading the command and control of U.S. forces.

Japan has more than 50,000 U.S. troops, but the commander for U.S. Forces Japan has no commanding authority. Instructions come from U.S. Indo-Pacific Command in Hawaii. The plan will give USFJ greater capability, while still reporting to INDOPACOM.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin joined their Japan counterparts, Yoko Kamikawa and Minoru Kihara, at the Japan-U.S. Security Consultative Committee in Tokyo.

“We are standing at a historic turning point as the rules-based, free and open international order is shaken to the core," Kamikawa said. "Now is a critical phase when our decision today determines our future.”

Austin said China is “engaging in coercive behavior, trying to change the status quo in the East and South China Seas, around Taiwan and throughout the region.”

In the joint statement issued afterward, the ministers said China's foreign policy “seeks to reshape the international order for its own benefit at the expense of others” and that such behavior is "a serious concern to the alliance and the entire international community, and represents the greatest strategic challenge in the Indo-Pacific region and beyond.”

The ministers said they will pursue efforts to expand Japanese production of PAC-3 interceptors for export to the United States, as well as co-production of Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missiles to meet “critical demand” for such systems to be ready “to deter aggression.”

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