Japan spurns US demand for defense budget increase

KARACHI, Pakistan

Japan on Wednesday brushed aside the US demand to increase its defense spending to 3% of its gross domestic product to tackle "growing security challenges," with Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba making it clear that Tokyo will not do that at any other country's demand.

Japan "determines its own defense spending, not at the direction of any other country," Ishiba was quoted as saying by Tokyo-based Kyodo News.

The remarks came after Elbridge Colby, President Donald Trump's nominee for undersecretary of defense for policy, on Tuesday said that Tokyo should be spending at least 3% of its GDP on defense "as soon as possible."

In a written statement at a Senate confirmation hearing, Colby said: "It makes little sense for Japan, which is directly threatened by China and North Korea, to spend only 2%."

He was referring to Trump's calls for Taiwan and NATO members to allocate 10% and 5% of their GDP, respectively.

Japan, which has been following a pacifist post-World War II constitution since 1947, had long capped its defense budget at around 1% of its GDP, or around 5 trillion yen ($33.5 billion).

But in recent years, it has raised the defense budget toward a goal of 2% of the GDP in 2027 amid growing security challenges posed by China and North Korea.