US will welcome rise in Japan defence spending, senior American diplomat says
- The comments by Daniel Kritenbrink, US assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, come amid China’s growing assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific region
- While not a formal rule, Japan has long kept defence spending below 1 per cent of GDP due to its pacifist Constitution
A senior US diplomat on Tuesday said Washington would “welcome” an increase in Japan’s defence budget, as signalled by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida amid China’s growing assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific region.
“This is the decision for our sovereign Japanese allies to decide, but I’ll be very clear we would welcome increased Japanese defence spending,” Daniel Kritenbrink, the US assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, said in an interview with Kyodo News.
“And we would welcome our opportunity to continue to coordinate with our Japanese allies on how we together can contribute to prosperity across the region,” he added.
The remarks came after the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) led by Kishida retained a comfortable majority together with its ally Komeito in the House of Representatives election late last month, with the LDP pledging to consider a doubling of defence spending to around 2 per cent of Japan’s gross domestic product.
While not a formal rule, Japan has long kept defence spending below 1 per cent of GDP due to its pacifist Constitution.
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Kritenbrink is on his first trip to Japan since becoming the top US diplomat for East Asia in late September. He plans to stay in Japan through Wednesday before making a three-day trip to Seoul, according to the US government.