Pentagon says Japan must meet ‘global standard' and spend 5% of GDP on defense
The Pentagon has set a 'global standard' for Japan and other U.S. allies to spend 5% of gross domestic product on defense, in the first official confirmation that Washington is asking Tokyo to pump up its defense budget even further.
In a statement given to The Japan Times on Friday, Chief Pentagon Spokesman Sean Parnell pointed to a majority of NATO nations that have signed on to U.S. requests to boost defense spending to the 5% level, saying that 'European allies are now setting the global standard for our alliances, especially in Asia, which is 5% of GDP spending on defense.'
Asked whether Parnell's remarks apply specifically to Japan, a U.S. defense official said it 'is inclusive for all of our allies across the Asia-Pacific region, including Japan.'
Both allies had been mum on whether the U.S. would press Japan specifically to hit the 5% target, though Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told a Senate panel Wednesday that there is now a "new standard for allied defense spending that all of our allies around the world, including in Asia, should move to."
Ostensibly pacifist Japan has in recent years undertaken a dramatic transformation of its security policy, including a five-year plan to ramp up defense spending to 2% of GDP by 2027.
Pouring even more cash into defense coffers would come with significant political costs as the government focuses on domestic economic priorities and amid growing uncertainty over how to secure funds. Japan is currently getting far less bang for its buck as inflation and the yen's diminishing value erode its plans for the country's largest military buildup in postwar history.
Defense Minister Gen Nakatani said in April that defense spending was within striking distance of the 2% target, at 1.8% of GDP. A Defense Ministry panel of experts is reportedly set to recommend that the government consider hiking defense spending beyond 2%, and Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has said that future budgets "may top 2%, if needed,' depending on the security environment.
However, Ishiba and senior Japanese officials have said that what is most important is the substance of strengthened defense capabilities — not arbitrary figures.
The issue will be at the top of the agenda at next week's NATO leaders' summit at The Hague, which Ishiba is also set to attend.
While most NATO members are on track to back U.S. President Donald Trump's demand that they invest 5% of GDP in defense, Spain on Thursday rejected the proposal, with Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez calling it 'unreasonable.'
The disagreement could weaken the Trump administration's argument to Asian partners that European allies are falling in line with its demand, as any agreement to adopt a new spending guideline must be made with the consensus of all 32 NATO member states.
Hegseth hinted at the U.S. push for allies to spend more during the Shangri-La Dialogue regional security conference in Singapore late last month, citing what he called an imminent and 'real' threat posed by China to democratic Taiwan — something Parnell also pointed to in his statement.
'Given the enormous military buildup of China as well as North Korea's ongoing nuclear and missile developments, it is only common sense for Asia-Pacific allies to move rapidly to step up to match Europe's pace and level of defense spending,' Parnell said.
'It is common sense because it is in our Asia-Pacific allies' own security interests, and in that of the American people's to have more balanced and fairer alliance burden-sharing with our Asian allies,' he added.
Trump has railed against his country's alliance with Japan, calling the partnership — which turns 65 this year — unfair and 'one-sided,' while threatening Tokyo and other allies and partners with onerous tariffs on key sectors such as automobiles and steel.
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