 Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you all for joining us. I realize nobody has any plans for 4.30 on a Friday afternoon. You didn't have anything else you wanted to do than to come to CSIS, so I'm glad that we could help out. No, I'm seriously, I'm very flattered and honored that you would come, and I would like to think it was us, but I really know it's our speaker, and we're very honored and pleased that the Defense Minister is joining us today. We thank him for making a part of his program while he's in Washington to speak to the policy community in Washington, and it's a great privilege to be able to welcome Minister of Defense Odin Onidera. I've had the privilege of meeting him on a number of occasions, and he's exactly the right man at the right time. These are challenging days in Japan. These are hard days in Japan, and these are a challenging environment. And the Minister is, I think, exceptional in his calm assurance. He reassures the American people, as he does the Japanese citizens, that there's a solid, wise, thoughtful judgment that's informing his leadership of the ministry. This is an important thing, and we're all very lucky to have a man of his character and his background and his experience as the Minister of Defense in Japan these days. Now, his second home is Washington. He was a student and a fellow here in Washington just up the street at the School of International Studies, Johns Hopkins. Now, I want to point that out. At least there are two graduates, one who did well of Seiss, and so I'm very happy to welcome him and to celebrate the fact that we went to the same school together. My job here today is not to formally read a biography, but I want to give you an insight into his character, because I think that's the most important thing, and it wasn't until just in preparation for this that I came to learn that Minister Odidera has a personal motto that he's used throughout his professional life, and that motto is Ichigo Wo Terusu, which means light up a corner of the world. I think that's remarkable, and I think it's an insight into his character. His character in public leadership is to bring insight and calm reflection to help all of us create a better world, and I think that's exactly what we want to have in a Defense Minister. So could I ask you with your applause to please welcome and thank the presence of Minister Odidera who's with us this afternoon. President Hammering, Senior Vice President Green, thank you so much for this invitation today. I see there's a brand new building here, and this shows how much CSIS is making. Once again I feel this. There were a lot of students at size, but I was the only one that was this poor in English. Now with President Hammering, he came to see me in Tokyo in January at the Ministry of Defense, and he told me that a speech at CSIS would be more important than having a meeting with Secretary Hagel. Actually, I just had a meeting with Secretary Hagel before coming here, and I relayed what Mr. Hammering had said, and I'm very pleased that I'm able to fulfill the promise I made to Mr. Hammering and to cap off a week-long visit to the U.S. with this most important event. I went to Dallas and Omaha after San Diego and then Washington, D.C. I saw various U.S. military installations and was able to see some very important places. Also, President Hammering invited Prime Minister Abe to CSIS last year, and in his speech he strongly declared that Japan was back about a year and a half has passed since that, and not only is Japan back, but under Prime Minister Abe's leadership we have made great progress in our security policy. In the Asia-Pacific region, what challenges does Japan face? How does Japan intend on fulfilling its responsibilities? That will be the topic of my speech. For more than 70 years, we have consistently protected an order that has provided peace and prosperity, but it's facing serious challenges now. The nations of the Asia-Pacific region are connected by a great ocean. Since time immemorial, we have used the sea for exchanges and to develop. Now, the Asia-Pacific region is at the center of the world economy. It accounts for roughly 40 percent of world trade and constitutes a huge trading block. The Asian middle class is expected to add a billion members in the next 10 years. The importance of the stability of the Asia-Pacific region to the U.S. economy goes without saying as well. Today, I would like to seek your heightened awareness on this point. The U.S. stands with the Asia-Pacific, and the Asia-Pacific has no future without American participation. Japan and the U.S. must never forget this. In April of 1996, then Prime Minister Hashimoto and President Clinton said that they were preparing the U.S.-Depran alliance for a new stage in the 21st century and issued a joint declaration on security. The declaration began by saying that our strong bilateral ties had contributed to the peace and the stability of the region and that they also supported the dynamic economic growth of the region. Creating a peaceful and prosperous Asia-Pacific is a clear, common objective of Japan and the United States for the peace and prosperity of the region, including during the Cold War. Japan and the United States have supported a free and open maritime order, even at times risking lives, also based on the rule of law. However, recently there have been attempts to unilaterally change this order. The incursions into the territorial waters surrounding the Senkaku Islands, which are inherent to Japanese territory, or targeting fire control radar on a self-defense ship engaged in patrol and surveillance, unilateral designation of an air defense identification zone, abnormal approaches by warplanes. At the front lines, the self-defense force daily confronts such a provocative behavior and has carried out its duties with restraint and firmness. The front lines of Japan's defense, an expansive ocean, the skies above it, and roughly 6,800 islands. Since taking office, I have visited facilities of the self-defense forces on 13 remote islands where self-defense members are 24 hours a day conducting surveillance and I have encouraged individual self-defense force members. One must defend one's own territory by one's own hands. This isn't unique to Japan. Along with encouraging our own units, I have gone to areas around the South China Sea, Cameram Bay and Vietnam to the west, Subic Bay and the Philippines to the east, up to Guam, islands on the so-called first and second island chains, and met with Defense Secretary Guzman of the Philippines, General Tan of the Vietnam and Hishamudin of Malaysia, the United States Minister, exchanged views with them and they agree. One must defend one's own territory by one's own hand. But in this age, in defense, countries cannot stand alone. These countries now want stronger ties with Japan and the United States. Minister Abe, as on his first overseas trip, went to Vietnam. And before his first year in office was out, he visited all 10 ASEAN member states. I have visited six ASEAN member states and taken advantage of the Shangri-La Dialogue and the ADMM Plus to have meetings with all of the defense ministers of ASEAN member states. Also, thanks to a Japanese initiative, the first Japan ASEAN Defense Ministerial Roundtable is to be held this year. In this manner, Japan has steadily worked to advance its ties with ASEAN member states. The U.S. has also worked on deepening its relations with ASEAN. Last June, last year, I visited Subic Bay in the Philippines and I saw USP3C flying toward the South China Sea into the clear blue sky. And I felt, as one only can on the ground, the importance of the U.S. military presence. Rotational deployments of littoral combat ships to Singapore and the agreement signed in April between the U.S. and the Philippines deepening defense ties I hope will lead Asia to greater stability. Now, since the OPEC government was formed, we have seen a marked increase in the number of members of the U.S. Congress visiting the Japanese Ministry of Defense. I myself have already met with upwards of 30 members, mostly from the Armed Services and Foreign Relations, House and Senate committees. And I've seen others from the U.S. such as President Hamry of CSIS and others who have experienced in senior posts at state and defense. Now, these experts and these members, why did they all come to see me? It's because I think that they all had a certain doubt. What is this defense minister aiming for? Is he trying to start something with China? Is he trying to get the U.S. dragged into that fight? I think that's what was on their mind. One former secretary of state made me feel as if I were undergoing an oral examination at university by firing a lot of tough questions across the table. But after my response, that former secretary of state invited me to Stanford to give a speech, which must mean that my explanation was understood. Now, on that occasion and on others when I had visitors from the U.S., this is what I said. I am not seeking confrontation with China. We wish to lead China to becoming a country that is responsible and that contributes to the peace and prosperity of the Asia-Pacific region. Japan wishes to prevent and avoid unintended situations and is energetically reaching out to China for that. We are reaching out to them to try to make Japan-China hotline operational, a maritime contact mechanism. When Prime Minister Abe was in government, the first time with then-Premier Wen Xiaobao, they almost got to the operational stage. But after that, there was a change in administrations, and we haven't seen much progress, but Prime Minister Abe continues to believe that such mechanisms will contribute to the peace and stability of the region. We will continue to reach out to China on this matter. The U.S. has also reached out to China in various forms. The U.S. Navy is hosting a multilateral exercise called RIMC PAC, and now China is participating for the first time thanks to a U.S. invitation. We very much hope that the Chinese Navy will learn seamanship through this exercise and we welcome their participation. Our door is always open to dialogue, but on the other hand, if against the background of force, there's unilateral behavior that disrupts the order, we must respond firmly, and we must not forget this either. Japan, also the U.S. and China, which are included in the Asia-Pacific region, and the international community as a whole for its peace and prosperity, we must not tolerate unilateral changes in the status quo through force. Now, by coming to this speech today, I said at the outset that I'm fulfilling a promise to Mr. Hammering. It's sometimes said that once Japanese people promise, once they make up their minds, then they follow through. They do get things done. North Korea has continued provocative statements and behavior, including suggesting missile launches and nuclear tests. Last year they mentioned not just Japanese cities, but Hawaii, Guam, and the Washington D.C. as being within the range of its ballistic missiles. This was the North Korean threat. North Korea has steadily continued its development of ballistic missiles that can reach the U.S. mainland. Based on this situation in February of last year, Prime Minister Abe agreed, along with President Obama, to add a second installation of a Tipi-2 radar in Japan. And following that, we were able to put things on track for creating a site in Kyoto where there had been no previous U.S. base, and the construction has already started, and it's expected to be operational on schedule. So, Japanese people getting things done once they decide, a great example of that is the BMD system. When Secretary General of the Liberal Democratic Party, Shigeru Ishiba was Director General of Defense, the Japanese government decided to build a BMD system 10 years have passed, and now we have 17 patriot units. We have four radars capable of detecting ballistic missiles, seven radars capable of tracking ballistic missiles, four BMD-equipped Aegis ships. We have a 24-hour seamless system that protects the people of Japan as well as U.S. bases in Japan. When you add the Tipi-2 to this, Japan has a world-class ballistic missile defense system, and we intend to increase the number of Aegis ships by four and to continue to make progress in terms of ballistic missile defense. Japanese people will get things done once they decide to do it. Japan will continue to be an ally that the U.S. can count on. The North Koreans are engaged with us on talks regarding abductions, but this does not mean at all that we take lightly the questions of missiles and of nuclear development. We intend to continue our close coordination with the U.S. and the ROK, especially with the defense minister of the ROK. At any time, I am prepared to have a bilateral defense minister's meeting. The U.S. now has a policy that gives importance to the Asia-Pacific region. It's called Rebalancing, and we very much welcome it. At the 2-plus-2 in Tokyo last year, there was a joint statement, and the Tipi-2, the P-8 patrol craft, and Global Hawk, cutting-edge equipment is being deployed to Japan in April in a meeting with Secretary Hagel. There was a plan that was announced to deploy two more Egypt ships to Japan. We very much welcome the rebalancing strategy, and we'll give our full cooperation to it. In order to achieve stable deployment of the U.S. forces in Japan, it's important to reduce the burden on Okinawa, especially replacing Futenma, is one of the top priorities of the Abe government. We are firmly committed to making sure that this replacement happened. I visited Okinawa seven times, and with respect to moving to Guam, we are also, as a government, committed to this. We have spent roughly $950 million of Japanese taxpayers' money for this project, and we hope that we will continue to move steadily on this plan. We want to have stronger cooperation with the U.S. U.S.-Japan-Australia, U.S.-Japan-India, U.S.-Japan-ROK in order to build a more stable security environment. In partnership with 2014, there were transport ships that had U.S. and Australian forces on them, and for the first time went into the South China Sea. With respect to U.S., Japan, and South Korea, last year Iwasaki, chairman of the Joint Staff Council, and Dempsey, chairman of the Joint States of Staff, for the first time had a trilateral Chiefs of Defense conference. In the previous month, there was also a trilateral Defense Minister's meeting. As to the U.S.-Japan and India, for the first time in five years, we are planning an exercise called Manabar near Okinawa. U.S. and Japan have great ties of trust, and we are becoming something that is a platform for further cooperation. In February, Prime Minister Abe, to President Obama, said that Japan will carry out responsibilities with the United States, and talked about his determination on various defense policies. Last year, for the first time in 11 years, we increased our defense spending at the end of last year. In order to protect our remote islands, the Ares and the Sea, we created a new defense plan and strategy. The maritime and air self-defense forces will be strengthened and have amphibious units for the first time. So, recently, a new legislative effort was the object of a cabinet decision, including collective self-defense. Prime Minister Abe has been telling Prime Minister Obama about these developments for a year and a half. Let me give some details about the cabinet decision last year. In July 1, we were able to have a historic cabinet decision that will change the direction in which we have looked at our legislative structure, not just the country of Japan, but rather the security environment that surrounds us. We will fundamentally revise it to look at new technologies, to prevent proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, and these threats can happen anywhere in the world and can have direct effects on Japan's security. No country can continue to protect peace on its own. We must increase our defensive capabilities and especially we must increase the effectiveness of the US-Depen Alliance and increase its deterrence. In any circumstance, the lives of the citizens of our country must be protected and based on a principle of international cooperation and proactive contributions to peace, we will contribute to the peace and stability of the international community and we need to create legislation domestically that will make further such contributions possible. The next three points are included in this. First, up to now, Article 9 of the Constitution has been interpreted to be limited to when an armed attack happened in areas surrounding Japan. But now, when other countries that have close ties to Japan have an armed attack against them or when there is a threat to the life or the freedom of the people of Japan, a clear danger, then we will remove this danger and when there are no other appropriate measures then the necessary minimum measures will be able to be taken for self-defense and this was the decision that we reached in looking at the Constitution. For example, if the US was attacked militarily and there were a US warship near Japan between Guam and Hawaii or a ballistic missile that were on its way there, Japan would not have been able to take any measure against it up to now but is that acceptable? When you consider the US-Japan alliance, is it allowable for us not to try to intercept such a missile that has a US target? And if there's a gray zone, let's say it's neither peacetime nor wartime, we have to make our posture more robust to deal with this as well. Now, the US units, in order to protect them, the self-defense forces must be able to use a necessary and minimum use of force and this is the direction in which our legislation will move and when the US and Japanese forces are moving, working cooperatively, the self-defense forces will be able to respond appropriately. The third point, even if Japan does not use force, Japan in certain cases may need to support the US which might be using force and we should create legislation to make that possible as well. The government as a whole will now start creating this legislation and we believe that this will dramatically deepen our ties with our ally, the United States. Also, what was agreed with Secretary Hago, the revision of the US-Japan defense guidelines will be accelerated. Once again, I was able to verify this with Secretary Hago. This is our first revision of the guidelines in 17 years and it will deal with not just Japan's defense, but the security environment of the Asia-Pacific region as a whole and allow us to respond to that environment and the revision work should be done by the end of the year and should contribute to strengthening the US-Japan alliance. I have one more point to add in April. Japan created a new policy on export of weapons. Because of the difficult security environment, we want to have a stronger cooperation with other countries including the US. International cooperative development including the F-35 and repair of equipment and other such matters should be expanded. And we will make even clearer and more transparent the rules governing such activity. And we believe this will allow us to contribute even more to peace and stability. Building a peaceful and prosperous Asia-Pacific. We must not tolerate changes in the status quo via force. Our defense policy is very consistent with that. In this year and a half, we've had many policies in the security area that all contribute to strengthening our alliance with the United States. And trying to change the status quo via force will be deterred by a stronger US-Japan alliance. And also we will be able to prevent unexpected situations. And by having trilateral cooperation with like-minded countries, we will be able to also contribute. The most important thing is that all of these Japanese policies after the Second World War have not at all moved against peace. These measures are to make us even more of a country that promotes peace. In conclusion, Prime Minister Abe, at the end of May, the Shangri-La dialogue in Singapore for the peace and prosperity of Asia to be eternal was something that he wished. And he got warm applause from the room. Secretary Hagel at the same dialogue gave a speech, said that the US, as a Pacific power, would support freedom of navigation and would oppose coercion and intimidation and threats, and made a very clear speech as well. At the same speech, I said that we were against changes in the status quo through force and that it was important to insist on the rule of law. Prime Minister Abe, Secretary Hagel, and myself consistently gave out the same message, saying that we attached importance to the rule of law and would not tolerate changes in the status quo through force. This was a consistent theme brought out by the US and Japan at that dialogue. After that, at the G7 in Brussels, Prime Minister Abe stressed that any action to alter the status quo by force should not be accepted anywhere in the world. Again, that message was strongly supported. We will build a peaceful and prosperous Asia-Pacific region. This is why we will not accept the change of the status quo by force. This message, we will continue to put forth and it's very much accepted by world opinion. We will oppose attempts to change the status quo and stand with the United States in doing so. The US and Japan should take leadership in this area because we're both democracies that uphold open policies. And we are two nations that recognize regional common interests and shared responsibilities. In the last year and a half, Japan is not merely back. Moreover, its engagement in developing security and defense policy in the region is very much moving forward. We are taking on more responsibility in the region. There's nothing unnatural about this. It's natural for a great power like Japan to play a responsible role for the region based on the significance of the area and the increasingly acute regional security environment. Japan will play a responsible role for the regional peace and prosperity with the United States and Australia, South Korea and partners in Southeast Asia and India. I cannot guarantee that such a path for the peace and stability of the region will not be rocky. Rather, it may be long and difficult. Japan will continue to walk this path hand in hand with the US as we have for 70 years. I'm so pleased to have had this chance to speak today in a year and a half. I have met with more than 30 defense ministers and directly explained our defense policy. And today I've been able to do so at CSIS. It's truly an honor for me in the future. Japan's security and defense policies will continue to be explained by us with openness and transparency and security in Japan as a country promoting peace will continue to walk this path. Thank you so much for your attention. Minister, thank you for shedding some light on our corner of the world this afternoon. And thank you, everyone, for coming on a Friday afternoon. I'm Michael Green. I'm Senior Vice President for Asia and Japan Share at CSIS. We have about 20 minutes, I think, for Q&A. I'm going to ask the first question since I have the mic. When I call on you and you get a microphone, would you speak into the microphone, identify yourself, and please keep the question short? And let me also add one last point, which is you do not need to take the translation your pieces with you. They won't work very well outside of this room, so leave them on your chair when we're finished. We'd appreciate that. Minister, you gave a very well-balanced and very strategic speech, and I especially appreciated the precise and clear description of the Cabinet decision on July 1st with respect to collective self-defense, which, as you said, is so important for the alliance between our two countries for deterrence and stability. And we'll all be watching the legislative process, the Defense Guidelines Review, which will be the next important steps to this. And I also thought it was very important that you highlighted the maritime communication mechanism and other confidence-building steps that you're ready to take with China, and we're on track to conclude with China. And I think it's important that those also get back on track for the interests of Japan, the U.S., China, and the whole region. You touched on third parties, like-minded states, U.S. allies and friends, cooperation with India, Korea, and Australia. And I noted that you said you're ready to go to Korea as soon as the Korean Defense Minister is ready to receive you. And I wanted to ask you about that. Korea is a very close friend, democratic, treaty ally of the United States, with common values with Japan and similar security challenges. When you do have your meeting with the Defense Minister in Seoul or in Japan, wherever you do it, what's your philosophy for moving forward with Japan-Korea relations, particularly with respect to security, and what kind of areas of defense cooperation would you like to emphasize, if possible? U.S.-Japan are okay. Not just North Korea. It's important for various issues. In various meetings, I have myself. And I think it might change now, but Kim Gun-jin, the Defense Minister, many times I had spoke with the Minister. The same message of the defense authorities is that if bilateral ties improves, then a defense ministerial meeting will be possible, and it will be easier to have defense cooperation. I myself think that Japan ROK ties are very important. I hope that quickly our relations, especially in terms of diplomacy and government, government will improve. Thank you. Kevin Mayer with NMB Consulting. Welcome to Washington, sir. Somewhat of a down-on-the-wheat question about keeping short, with the change to collective self-defense policy, how far would Japan be willing to go in terms of a real integrated force structure, integrated not just bilaterally with the U.S., but between the maritime self-defense forces and the air self-defense forces, for example, and will this be reflected in your procurement of capabilities for, as one example, your upcoming EX competition, the early warning aircraft. Will you go for things that really allow a real integration with U.S. forces like cooperative engagement capability and integrated fire control? Can you go that far now? Building up its defensive capabilities is mostly based on protecting our territory. We don't have a big role in terms of contributing all around the world like the U.S. does. As much as we can, we want to make it possible for us to cooperate with the United States. For example, we have cooperation that has to do with procurement now, and it's important to continue training as well, and to deepen it will be important. I have been talking about the changes in our defense policy, but I think some of you may have been surprised. U.S. ships that are sent to defend Japan, and Japan has not, let's say Japan has not yet been attacked, but that ship is attacked. The Constitution was interpreted to say that we could not help that ship. So for seven years, we have had that outlook. Not go to the problem, but to try to actually help out is what an ally should naturally do. That's how this change in policy should be understood. We also look at this from the standpoint of deterrence. It's important for U.S. and Japan and China that problems not happen in the first place, including all of our economies. Thank you. Stanley Roth, the Boeing company. As a fellow SICE graduate, I have to agree with Dr. Hamry, as always, that I'm feeling like something of an underachiever personally as well. My question is a bit sensitive one about the Japanese defense budget, and in asking it, I recognize that you could flip the question and ask me about the U.S. defense budget and whether it's adequate for American needs. But since you're the Japanese minister of defense, I'll ask you about Japan's budget. Obviously symbolically very important that there was an increase which you mentioned in your speech. But in terms of the needs of Japan's forces, and in terms of the very dramatic rise for over a decade, maybe two decades in Chinese military spending in particular, and a relative shift in balance of power, what do you think are the main gaps that need to be addressed, and do you think there is the political will to bump up the Japanese budget over time to accommodate at least some of this gap? With respect to our military build-up, we created a national defense program outlined in a midterm defense build-up plan which has been transparently announced, and we want to continue to build up our defense capability. If various countries engage in a build-up race, then you never can see the goal. As I said before, no country can stand alone in terms of defending itself. So we want to have more alliances, and if the other country is not transparent, then we want to ask them why do you have that equipment? So we want to seek transparency from others, and by having such exchanges to increase trust, and we think that's the most important thing. It may not be a question that directly has to do with your line of business, but it is what is needed for Japan's security. I also want to say, so if I can't call on a size person next, or people will think there's a conspiracy, you went to Berkeley, right? Okay. Thank you, Chris Nelson with the Nelson Report. Yes, Berkeley, although I've given talks at Zeiss. Thank you very much for a really comprehensive, very clear speech. Much appreciated. I'd like to ask a question that may be a little more detailed, but I hope it's not hypothetical. In this room this morning, at the really interesting second day of the CSS conference, a former colleague of yours, Admiral Kota Yoji, got all of our attention by saying, you know, we've been so focused on the disconnects on history and the risk of incidents at sea and the air risk that you have said is still there because the Chinese won't talk to us, that we're missing what the Chinese are actually doing. And he said we need to look at three islands or little rocks, really, out in the South China Sea, and he named them, saying the Chinese have already built one air base. And if the U.S. and Japan don't develop a joint, he said naval strategy, but he meant comprehensive strategy, to prevent the completion of those bases. When you combine them with Hainan Island, China will control the South China Sea. That's going to be it. Therefore, we have to work together to stop this from happening. Is he speaking in some ways for concerns that you share and you have some ideas about joint, U.S., Japan, and other cooperation to try to prevent this? And if so, could you share some of that with us? Thank you very much. You're referring, I think, to the South China Sea and problems that have happened with the Vietnam and the Philippines. Japan has, along with ASEAN, held various meetings and sent out a common message. ASEAN is also deeply concerned about this issue. We are also continually seeking dialogue with China. We'd like to get a solution based on dialogue and the rule of law. Unfortunately, we've only seen unilaterally changes based on force. So improved capability of maritime policing for ASEAN countries is important. And we can't just protect the region, but if there's a disaster in the region or a disaster at sea in the region, it will also help. And Japan would like to help in terms of increasing that capability. Yes, Matt. Right here. I'm Nicole Finch here for the Defense Threat Reduction Agency. You briefly mentioned a goal of improved technology for weapons of mass destruction, proliferation prevention. Do you see a future for U.S.-Japanese cooperation in research and development? Japan is the only country that suffered an atomic attack and thinks it's important to eliminate such weapons. But as a practical matter, there are countries that do have nuclear arsenals and some of them make provocative statements and are near Japan, and we have to take measures against them. The direction will probably be to eliminate weapons of mass destruction, but all the countries of the world have to, at the same time, go in the same direction, otherwise there won't be progress. So more international dialogue and cooperation. Sorry for a kind of an exemplary answer. Thank you very much, Minister. For your speech today, my name is Jung Yeoboo from the Asan Institute from Seoul, Korea. Recently, there was a summit between President Park and President Xi. Though there is no mention about Japan in their joint statement, but our National Security Advisor just before President Xi left Korea briefed to the press that the two leaders exchanged their views and shared concerns about Japan's collective self-defense. Could you share with us what Japan and your view about this? So since it's a question from Korea, Prime Minister Abe has many times said that including the Second World War, based on deep regret for this, we will continue to walk a path of peace. So for those in Korea, we hope you will understand that the Abe government has no different understanding of this Japanese government's history questions. Dialogue and cooperation is important for all countries, and we hope that China and the Republic of Korea will be able to have good relations, and we would love to get good opinions from the Republic of Korea, and we hope to have a good relationship with China as well. President Nelson and Kevin talked about the jointness and interoperability that might now be more possible with collective self-defense between US and Japan among Japanese forces. Chris mentioned the complex situation in the first island chain, and you talked about how your members of the self-defense forces are every day dealing with these challenges. The front line in many of these cases for Japan is the Coast Guard or law enforcement. And I wonder if you could tell us something about how, from the Defense Ministry's perspective, your strategy is evolving and your cooperation is evolving with these other parts of the Japanese government that are white hull, not grey hull ships that are under different ministry. Including the Senkaku Islands, it's the Japan Coast Guard. It's our maritime police, not the military, that is protecting Japanese territory. But if foreign warships come to have surveillance and patrol, then our warships would be engaged. But in principle, it is the Japan Coast Guard that is responsible. But for the air, for any country, it's the Air Force that's responsible. In our case, it's the Air Self-Defense Forces. So you have to always have a calm approach, of course. But unfortunately, since a year and a half ago, there have been really unusual and normally unthinkable approaches and they have locked on with radar that's usually just used for attacks. And so even in those situations, on the ground and between governments, it's important to have communication in a hotline and we want to make a system that will avoid problems. Good CSIS, I want to thank you. You're Minister of Defense at one of the most interesting times in Japan's post-war history. And I think everyone feels a lot more confident hearing your views and recognizing how much work you have. And so we should let you get back to work. Please join me in thanking Minister Ono Dera.