Japan’s new Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has decided to scale up the defence spending by two per cent of GDP two years early, at the demands of the United States President Donald Trump, who is set to visit the country later this week.
Japan has moved towards a more muscular defence policy, but with an eye on China and Washington, which has around 60,000 military personnel in Japan.
Tokyo’s earlier target was to spend two per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) in the 2027-28 fiscal year.
Takaichi, who became Japan’s first woman Prime Minister this week, is expected to announce her first policy speech in the parliament on Friday.
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She will also look to revise three key security and defence policy documents by the end of 2026. Trump was due to arrive in Japan on Monday in between a South Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in Malaysia and an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in South Korea.
This comes after US President Donald Trump intensified pressure on other allies to boost defence spending, including the EU and NATO members.
Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said on Wednesday that Tokyo will tell Trump that it will place a "fundamental strengthening of defence capabilities as the top priority, based on the ongoing review of the key security documents".
On Friday, Takaichi is likely to announce measures strengthening bilateral relations with Beijing. She said on Thursday that China is "an important neighbouring country and it is necessary to build a constructive and stable relationship" with Beijing.
“We will honestly continue summit-level dialogue and pursue a mutually beneficial relationship based on common strategic interests,” she said.
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