The Secretary of Defense of the United States, Pete Hegseth, agreed this Sunday with his Japanese counterpart reinforcing the military “deterrence” to prevent “aggressive acts” of China, and reaffirmed Washington’s commitment to maintain stability in the Taiwan Strait.
“America first does not mean America alone,” Hegseth said in an appearance before the media after a meeting with the Japanese defense minister, Gen Nakatani, in which he stressed that both countries “remain firmly together against the aggressive and coercive actions of the Chinese Communist Party.”
The head of the Pentagon stressed the American commitment to maintain a “robust and credible deterrence in the Indo -Pacific, including the Taiwan Strait”, and added that Japan “will be in the front line” in case of any contingency in the region.
This is the first visit of Hegesh to Japan since he assumed the position last January under the second administration led by Donald Trump, and is part of an Asia-Pacific tour of the Secretary of Defense that previously led him to the Philippines, where he also highlighted the need to strengthen military cooperation to counteract China’s boom.
Hegesh called to reinforce US alliances with his partners so that “the perception of deterrence” is “real and continuous”, and for Beijing “not to undertake the aggressive actions that some have contemplated that it could carry out.”
“Keep peace being strong”
The head of the Pentagon emphasized the need to “restore deterrence” with a view to “maintaining peace being strong”, and also blamed the previous administration for not having been firmer in military.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine or Hamas’s attacks on Israel that triggered a new conflict in the Middle East “would never have occurred under the presidency of Trump,” Hegseth said.
“Those incidents and others, including the nature of our relations with our allies, created a void, a perception that the United States was not strong and was not prepared to deter conflicts,” said the US Secretary of Defense.
The Japanese head of the bouquet, meanwhile, said that stability in the Taiwan Strait “is important for Japan National Security,” when asked about a hypothetical conflict around the territory whose sovereignty Reeltables Claims. In that sense, Japan and the United States agree to highlight the need to “maintain peace, stability and trade” in the Strait.
“We expect the peaceful resolution through the dialogue of any problem in the area,” said Nakatani, who added that Tokyo would respond to any contingency “based on its national legislation and international regulations.”
