Japan plans to show its determination to further build up its defense to rapidly adapt to changing warfare realities and growing tension in the region when US President Donald Trump visits Tokyo next week, Minister of Foreign Affairs Toshimitsu Motegi said.
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s administration is also finalizing a purchase package, including US pickups, soybeans and gas, to present to Trump, but would not commit to any new defense spending target at the meeting, a source with knowledge of the preparations said.
The two leaders are to sit down in Tokyo on Monday and Tuesday next week during Trump’s first visit to Japan since his re-election last year, following an agreement by her predecessor, former Japanese prime minister Shigeru Ishiba, to invest as much as US$550 billion in the US in return for lower auto tariffs.
Photo: AFP
“The alliance with the United States is the cornerstone of Japan’s foreign and security policy,” Takaichi said on Tuesday at her inaugural news conference as prime minister.
“It would be premature to comment on any discussions during President Trump’s visit,” a Japanese government spokesperson said when asked about the planned purchase package and potential investments.
Motegi said that he hoped Trump’s first meeting with Takaichi would serve as an opportunity for the two leaders to discuss further strengthening the US-Japan alliance, while fostering their personal relationship of trust.
Japan also hopes to further cooperate with South Korea, along with other regional partners, including Australia and the Philippines, while seeking stable and constructive relations with China, he said.
Japan is undergoing a five-year military buildup through 2027 as part of its national security strategy, including doubling its annual defense spending to 2 percent of GDP. The strategy that promotes Japan’s strike-back capability with long-range missiles marks a major break from Japan’s defense-only principle under its postwar pacifist constitution.
Japan is expected to face tough demands from Trump to further increase its defense spending to NATO levels of 5 percent of GDP, more purchases of costly US arsenals and additional spending for 50,000 US troops in Japan under the bilateral security pact.
“Our national defense should be based on our own independent decision,” Motegi said. “What’s important is not the amount or the GDP ratio, but what’s in it.”
Meanwhile, the sweeteners Takaichi plans to offer Trump in her first major diplomatic test include the purchase of Ford F-150 pickup trucks, an idea floated by Trump, and an agreement to buy more US soybeans, which US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick requested in a call with his Japanese counterpart last week, said two sources, who asked not to be identified because they are not authorized to talk to the media.
Beijing curbs of US soybean imports have hurt US farmers reliant on Asian markets. Last month, exports to China dropped to zero for the first time in almost seven years.
The F-150s, designed for wider US roads, might be used in Japan as snow plows.
Trump is also to meet Japanese Emperor Naruhito. The US leader and Takaichi are expected to travel to Malaysia for an ASEAN gathering from Sunday next week, and later to South Korea, which is hosting an APEC summit.
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