Latest news with #USJapanRelations
Reuters
a day ago
- Politics
- Reuters
Japan, US planning Secretary of State Rubio visit in July, Kyodo reports
TOKYO, June 27 (Reuters) - Japan and the United States are arranging for U.S. Secretary of State Rubio to visit Japan for the first time in early July, Kyodo news agency reported on Friday, citing a Japanese government official. Rubio is also planning to visit South Korea alongside attending the Association of Southeast Asian Nations foreign ministers' meetings in Malaysia in July, Kyodo quoted the government official as saying.
South China Morning Post
3 days ago
- Business
- South China Morning Post
‘Tactical move': why Japan pulled plug on US security talks amid defence spending row
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. Advertisement 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. Advertisement 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.
Arab News
21-06-2025
- Business
- Arab News
Japan scraps US meeting after Washington demands more defense spending: Report
WASHINGTON: Japan has canceled a regular high-level meeting with its key ally the United States after the Trump administration demanded it spend more on defense, the Financial Times reported on Friday. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had been expected to meet Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya and Defense Minister Gen Nakatani in Washington on July 1 for the annual 2+2 security talks. But Tokyo scrapped the meeting after the US asked Japan to boost defense spending to 3.5 percent of gross domestic product, higher than an earlier request of 3 percent, the newspaper said, citing unnamed sources familiar with the matter. Japan's Nikkei newspaper reported on Saturday that President Donald Trump's government was demanding that its Asian allies, including Japan, spend 5 percent of GDP on defense. A US official who asked not to be identified told Reuters that Japan had 'postponed' the talks in a decision made several weeks ago. The official did not cite a reason. A non-government source familiar with the issue said he had also heard Japan had pulled out of the meeting but not the reason for it doing so. State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said she had no comment on the FT report when asked about it at regular briefing. The Pentagon also had no immediate comment. Japan's embassy in Washington did not respond to a request for comment. The nation's foreign and defense ministries and the Prime Minister's Office did not answer phone calls seeking comment outside business hours on Saturday. The FT said the higher spending demand was made in recent weeks by Elbridge Colby, the third-most senior Pentagon official, who has also recently upset another key US ally in the Indo-Pacific by launching a review of a project to provide Australia with nuclear-powered submarines. In March, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said that other nations do not decide Japan's defense budget after Colby, in his nomination hearing to be under secretary of defense for policy, called for Tokyo to spend more to counter China. Japan and other US allies have been engaged in difficult trade talks with the United States over President Donald Trump's worldwide tariff offensive. The FT said the decision to cancel the July 1 meeting was also related to Japan's July 20 upper house elections, expected to be a major test for Ishiba's minority coalition government. Japan's move on the 2+2 comes ahead of a meeting of the US-led NATO alliance in Europe next week, at which Trump is expected to press his demand that European allies boost their defense spending to 5 percent of GDP.
Japan Times
05-06-2025
- Politics
- Japan Times
A new generation of 'Japan hands' and a changing world
The recent passing of Joseph Nye and Richard Armitage marks the end of an era in U.S.-Japan relations. As individuals, they could not have been more different — Nye, the Harvard professor and Democratic architect of 'soft power,' and Armitage, the straight-talking U.S. Navy veteran and Republican strategist. And yet together, they represented the ideal bipartisan alignment that underpinned a golden age of American engagement with Japan. For decades, they helped shape a vision of U.S.-Japan ties grounded in shared values, strategic trust and mutual respect. They were not only scholars or statesmen — they were Japan hands in the truest sense: people who understood that the U.S.-Japan alliance is not just a bilateral relationship but a cornerstone of global order. The loss of these two great men — who quite literally built U.S.-Japan relations through their personal connections and the energy they brought to their roles — leaves a gap that no single person can fill, nor should anyone try. The debate that Ambassador Ryozo Kato began when Armitage retired from public service has only become more intense along with the numerous tributes that have flowed from Washington to Tokyo. The truth, however, is that the world they helped shape has changed dramatically. The next generation of 'Japan hands' must reflect a new landscape — one defined by shifting geopolitics, generational change and a broader, more diverse community of actors. A wider circle The term 'Japan hand' once evoked a small, elite circle of policymakers, scholars and diplomats. That world is evolving and ever expanding. Today, Japan-engagement spans across industries, disciplines and demographics, from tech entrepreneurs and climate scientists to artists, educators and defense strategists. The next generation of Japan hands will be more global, more inclusive and more interdisciplinary by necessity. Japan is no longer 'No. 1' or the main economic alternative to America like it was in the 1980s when Armitage and Nye established themselves, rather it is a bastion of soft power and a global force multiplier for a more reluctant America that is questioning its own role in the world. Richard Armitage, former U.S. Deputy Secretary of State, attends the first International Conference Of Council for Arab and International Relations in Kuwait City in February 2013. | REUTERS We now see rising voices who may not speak perfect Japanese or have not served in government, but who bring deep curiosity and commitment to the U.S.-Japan relationship. Many are women or people of color and come from backgrounds long excluded from the traditional foreign policy establishment. This is not a dilution of the term — it is this very evolution that should be celebrated even as we mourn the passing of these giants and their moment in time. A tougher strategic environment The strategic context is also far more complex than in Nye and Armitage's heyday. The U.S.-Japan alliance must now grapple with a rising China and authoritarianism in general, coupled with powerful nonstate actors and the reshaping of global supply chains after COVID-19 and a changing global trading order. Climate change, AI and demographic decline are no longer peripheral issues — they are central to national security and economic statecraft in more deeply divided American and Japanese polities where domestic politics trumps foreign policy consensus. This moment calls for more friends of Japan who can appreciate and navigate these challenges with agility, drawing from multiple domains while maintaining the clarity of purpose that Nye and Armitage modeled. It requires not just Japan experts, but bridge-builders who can interpret across cultures, disciplines and generations. Honoring a legacy To honor Nye and Armitage is not to look backward with nostalgia, but forward with ambition. They taught us that loyalty to allies should transcend political parties — a message that feels especially urgent amid rising polarization and populism across our democracies. They also showed that strategic clarity and human empathy can coexist — and that is a lesson for any generation. There will never be another Armitage or Nye — or an Armitage-Nye pairing. But that's not the goal. What we need now is a network of Japan hands — scholars, practitioners, students and citizens — who bring new energy to an old friendship. People who see Japan not only as a security partner, but as a cultural and technological force in its own right where its global role is additive and complementary to the new world order. People who understand that alliances are not inherited and taken for granted — they are earned, renewed and reimagined by each generation with appreciation and reverence for the giants on whose shoulders we all stand. The torch is being passed. The question is not only who will carry it, but whether they will carry it with the same conviction and the same courage to adapt. Joshua W. Walker, Ph.D., is president and CEO of Japan Society.
Malay Mail
05-06-2025
- Business
- Malay Mail
Japan eyes rare earths alliance in US tariff talks amid China export curbs
TOKYO, June 5 — Japan is planning to propose strengthening cooperation with the United States on rare earth supply chains in upcoming tariff talks, with recent export restrictions by China in mind, the Nikkei business daily reported on Thursday. Japan's Jiji Press also reported that the US had shown flexibility in reducing an additional portion of reciprocal tariffs imposed on Japan. President Donald Trump hit Japan with 24 per cent tariffs on its exports to the US, although, as with many of his levies, he paused them until early July to allow time for negotiations. A 10 per cent universal rate remains in place in the meantime. The US has signalled flexibility in lowering the currently suspended additional 14 per cent, Jiji also reported, without citing any sources. Japan's chief tariff negotiator, Ryosei Akazawa, is heading to Washington from Thursday for a fifth round of talks with US counterparts, including Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. Japan has been urging the US to review its tariff policies, including the 25 per cent import levies on Japan-made vehicles. Car manufacturing is Japan's biggest industry. — Reuters
