The head of U.S. naval forces in the Pacific said a modernized military and industrial base relationship with Japan is one outcome of an Indo-Pacific Strategy released two years ago. Ednews reports citing Defense News.

The strategy, released February 2022 by the Biden administration, notes the “intensifying American focus” in the region is partly due to “mounting challenges, particularly from the [People’s Republic of China]. The PRC is combining its economic, diplomatic, military, and technological might as it pursues a sphere of influence in the Indo-Pacific and seeks to become the world’s most influential power.”

In response, the U.S. and its allies are tightening their military, economic and technological bonds.

Adm. Samuel Paparo, the commander of U.S. Pacific Fleet, this week said “the integration of our defense industrial bases, the integration of our concepts of operations, the combinations and integrations of our headquarters, and our combining on a common mission, reflects that modernizing [of] the U.S.-Japan relationship in order to account for the international security environment that we’re in today.”