Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi will meet with US President Donald Trump in Tokyo next week with the aim of improving mutual relations. In her first speech in parliament, she also announced that Japan, due to concerns about China, Russia and North Korea, will drastically accelerate the achievement of the goal of spending two percent of GDP on defense.
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said on Friday that they will take mutual relations to a new level during negotiations with US President Donald Trump in Tokyo next week. During her first speech in parliament, she said, among other things, that she would try to reach Japan’s goal of spending two percent of GDP on defense earlier than originally planned.
- The Japanese Prime Minister plans to strengthen relations with the USA.
- Japan will prematurely increase military spending to 2% of GDP.
- The change in security strategy is a response to global conflicts.
- Concerns are growing about the activities of China, North Korea and Russia.
“I will meet with President Trump during his visit to Japan to build a relationship of trust between our leaders and take Japan-US relations to a new level,” Takaichi said.
Strengthening the defense
She says her government will meet its annual military spending target of two percent of GDP by March, instead of 2027 as originally planned. According to the prime minister, she will revise the security strategy in time and it will be ready by the end of 2026. Japan used to revise its strategy approximately once every ten years, the last time it did so was in December 2022.
According to Takaičiova, Japan will modernize its strategy rather as a result of the change in the security environment, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the conflict in the Middle East. The newly elected Japanese Prime Minister also pointed out that “the military activities of neighboring countries – China, North Korea and Russia – have become a major concern.”
Security cooperation
“The free, open and stable international order to which we are accustomed is deeply shaken by historic changes in the balance of power and intensifying geopolitical competition,” she stated. China utterly despises Japan, which must deal with the security threat posed by Beijing. At the same time, she called for greater security cooperation with Taiwan.
However, Japan’s prime minister has other complex issues to deal with in the coming months, including a stagnant economy and a declining population. She says Japan needs foreign workers to solve labor shortages, but has also hinted at growing concern about foreigners in Japan, where immigration levels are historically low.
