Japan’s abrupt cancellation of scheduled security talks with the United States reflects a calculated effort to deflect mounting American pressure and prevent Washington from intertwining trade disputes with defence obligations, analysts say.
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Tokyo is also angling to re-engage with Washington after the Upper House election on July 20, hoping to negotiate from “a position of domestic strength”, according to observers.
The Financial Times first reported on Friday that Japan had called off a planned high-level meeting after the Trump administration demanded Tokyo increase its defence spending.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth had been expected to meet Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya and Defence Minister Gen Nakatani in Washington on July 1 for the annual “2+2” security talks.
But Tokyo cancelled the meeting, according to the report citing unnamed sources, after the US had pressed Japan to raise its defence budget to 3.5 per cent of gross domestic product – up from an earlier request of 3 per cent.
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Japan’s Nikkei newspaper reported on Saturday that Washington was now pressuring all its Asian allies, including Tokyo, to target defence spending as high as 5 per cent of GDP.