Japan vows military growth and deeper ties with US under Donald Trump

Japan’s Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has renewed a pledge to build up his country’s military and deepen its alliance with the United States under President-elect Donald Trump.

Mr Ishiba, who made the comments at an annual troop review held at Camp Asaka in the Tokyo suburbs on Saturday, said the security environment surrounding Japan and the international community has significantly worsened due to escalating tensions with China, Russia and North Korea. He pledged to reinforce Japan’s military power.

He said breaches of Japanese airspace by Chinese and Russian warplanes earlier in the year “not only violated Japanese sovereignty but also threatened the safety of Japan, and are absolutely unacceptable.”

He said Japan faces growing threats from China’s accelerating military activity around Japanese coasts and from North Korea’s repeated missile firings.

“As we face the most severe and complex security environment, I will balance and strengthen Japan’s diplomacy and security,” Mr Ishiba said in his speech before hundreds of troops gathered for the ceremony.

The Japan-US alliance is the lynchpin for achieving this, Mr Ishiba said, pledging to elevate Japan’s ties with the United States and work closely with Mr Trump as they agreed during a brief telephone conversation on Thursday.

Mr Ishiba took office on October 1, replacing his unpopular predecessor Fumio Kishida, but his governing coalition badly lost a recent parliamentary election and could face difficulty pursuing his party’s planned policies and budget plans in the coming months.

The Prime Minister pledged to pursue the ongoing military build-up plan under the 2022 security strategy adopted by his predecessor, which calls for a counter-strike capability with long-range cruise missiles, a break from its self-defence-only principle.

Mr Ishiba said he would pursue strengthening of command system to improve operations between Japanese and U.S. troops.

Since the Second World War, Japan has prioritised economic recovery over defence under its war-renouncing constitution but has steadily strengthened its defence capability in recent years.