Japan and Taiwan must dramatically ramp up defense spending in order to deter war with China, U.S. President Donald Trump’s nominee to be the Pentagon's top policy official has said, in a sign that Tokyo could be in for a bumpy ride under the American leader.
During a confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday, Elbridge Colby, a China hawk who served as a defense official in Trump’s first administration, said Japan — which is aiming to spend 2% of gross domestic product on defense by fiscal 2027 — must boost its defense spending even further.
“Japan should be spending at least 3% of GDP on defense as soon as possible,” he said in a statement, adding that Tokyo needed to accelerate the revamp of its military in order to focus on so-called denial defense of its territory and collective defense in the Indo-Pacific region.
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