Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba renewed a pledge on Saturday to build up his country’s military and deepen its alliance with the United States under newly-elected President Donald Trump.
Ishiba, who made the comments during an annual troop review at Camp Asaka on the outskirts of Tokyo, said the security environment around Japan and the international community has deteriorated significantly due to escalating tensions with China, Russia and North Korea. He promised to strengthen Japan’s military power.
He said violations of Japan’s airspace by Chinese and Russian warplanes earlier this year “not only violated Japan’s sovereignty, but also threatened Japan’s security and are absolutely unacceptable.” He said Japan faces increasing threats from China’s increasing military activity around Japan’s coasts and from repeated missile attacks by North Korea.
“As we face the most serious and complex security situation, I will balance and strengthen Japan’s diplomacy and security,” Ishiba said in his speech to hundreds of troops gathered for the ceremony.
The Japan-US alliance is the linchpin to achieve this, Ishiba said, pledging to strengthen Japan’s ties with the United States and work closely with Trump, as they agreed during a brief phone call on Thursday.
Ishiba took office on October 1, replacing his unpopular predecessor Fumio Kishida, but his governing coalition badly lost the recent parliamentary elections and could face difficulties in implementing his party’s planned policies and budget plans in the coming months.
Ishiba pledged to continue the ongoing military build-up plan under the 2022 security strategy adopted by his predecessor Fumio Kishida, which calls for a counterattack with long-range cruise missiles, a break with the principle of exclusive self-defense. Ishiba said he will seek to strengthen the command system to improve the operation between Japanese and American forces.
After its devastating defeat in World War II, Japan had prioritized economic recovery over defense under its war-rejecting constitution, but has steadily strengthened its defense capabilities in recent years.
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