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Shanahan: Time to Expand Int’l Coalition against ISIS

Acting US Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan speaks during the Missile Defense Review announcement at the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, US, January 17, 2019. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
Acting US Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan speaks during the Missile Defense Review announcement at the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, US, January 17, 2019. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
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Shanahan: Time to Expand Int’l Coalition against ISIS

Acting US Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan speaks during the Missile Defense Review announcement at the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, US, January 17, 2019. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
Acting US Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan speaks during the Missile Defense Review announcement at the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, US, January 17, 2019. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

The top Pentagon official said Friday he foresees growing the international coalition that has been combating ISIS in Iraq and Syria.

Pat Shanahan, the acting secretary of defense, made his comment at the conclusion of a meeting in Munich of key members of the US-led coalition.

Shanahan said that in Syria, ISIS has lost most of its leadership and resources — though he didn't say it's lost 100 percent of its territory.

ISIS militants are holed up in the last sliver of land in eastern Syria as US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces are closing in.

"While the time for US troops on the ground in northeast Syria winds down, the United States remains committed to our coalition's cause: the permanent defeat of ISIS, both in the Middle East and beyond," he stated.

He said the US would "maintain our counterterrorism capabilities in the region" and "continue to support our local partners' ability to stand up to the remnants of ISIS" -- but gave no details about how this would be done.

With the end of ISIS' rule imminent, American troops are set to withdraw from Syria's Kurdish-controlled areas.

US President Donald Trump in December announced the pullout of around 2,000 US troops, stunning allies including France and Britain who warned the fight against militants was not finished.

Shanahan said he envisions an "even bigger and stronger" coalition with a focus on broader threat posed by ISIS, including in Afghanistan and the Philippines.

He said there are currently 79 countries in the coalition.

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Japan's Top Diplomat in China to Address 'Challenges'

Japanese foreign minister Takeshi Iwaya (pictured) met with Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on Christmas in Beijing .Toshifumi KITAMURA / AFP
Japanese foreign minister Takeshi Iwaya (pictured) met with Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on Christmas in Beijing .Toshifumi KITAMURA / AFP
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Japan's Top Diplomat in China to Address 'Challenges'

Japanese foreign minister Takeshi Iwaya (pictured) met with Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on Christmas in Beijing .Toshifumi KITAMURA / AFP
Japanese foreign minister Takeshi Iwaya (pictured) met with Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on Christmas in Beijing .Toshifumi KITAMURA / AFP

Japanese foreign minister Takeshi Iwaya met counterpart Wang Yi and other top officials in Beijing on Wednesday, with the two sides agreeing to try to increase cooperation despite acknowledging challenges, reports said.
The visit is Iwaya's first to China since becoming Japan's top diplomat earlier this year, AFP said.
China and Japan are key trading partners, but increased friction over disputed territories and military spending has frayed ties in recent years.
Iwaya met with Wang at Beijing's opulent Diaoyutai State Guesthouse, footage from state broadcaster CCTV showed.
He told Wang Tokyo would try to "reduce challenges and matters of concern while increasing cooperation and collaboration", Japan's Kyodo news agency reported.
Earlier, Iwaya met Chinese Premier Li Qiang and agreed to work for a "constructive and stable" relationship, Kyodo said.
Tensions between the two sides flared again last year over Japan's decision to begin releasing into the Pacific Ocean some of the 540 Olympic swimming pools' worth of reactor cooling water amassed since the 2011 tsunami that led to the Fukushima nuclear disaster -- an operation the UN atomic agency deemed safe.
China branded the move "selfish" and banned all Japanese seafood imports, but in September said it would "gradually resume" the trade.

China imported more than $500 million worth of seafood from Japan in 2022, according to customs data.
Iwaya told reporters in Tokyo on Tuesday that "China represents one of the most important bilateral relationships for us", despite "challenges".
"Both countries possess the heavy responsibilities for the peace and stability of our region and the international community," he added.
China's foreign ministry said Beijing sought to "strengthen dialogue and communication" in order to "properly manage differences" with Japan.
Beijing would "strive to build a constructive and stable China-Japan relationship that meets the requirements of the new era", spokeswoman Mao Ning said.
Long-standing tensions
Japan's brutal occupation of parts of China before and during World War II also remains a sore point, with Beijing accusing Tokyo of failing to atone for its past.
Visits by Japanese officials to the Yasukuni shrine that honors war dead -- including convicted war criminals -- regularly prompt anger from Beijing.
Beijing's more assertive presence around disputed territories in the region, meanwhile, has sparked Tokyo's ire, leading it to boost security ties with key ally the United States and other countries.
In August, a Chinese military aircraft staged the first confirmed incursion by China into Japanese airspace, followed weeks later by a Japanese warship sailing through the Taiwan Strait for the first time.
Beijing's rare test launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile into the Pacific Ocean in late September also drew strong protests from Tokyo, which said it had not been given advance notice.
China also in August formally indicted a Japanese man held since last year on espionage charges.
The man, an employee of the Japanese pharmaceutical company Astellas, was held in March last year and placed under formal arrest in October.