Pentagon Policy Nominee Urges Japan to Hike Defense Spending

   Washington, March 4 (Jiji Press)--A U.S. Department of Defense policy nominee Tuesday urged Japan to raise its defense spending to over 3 pct of its gross domestic product.
   "Japan should be spending at least 3 pct of GDP on defense as soon as possible," Elbridge Colby, nominated by President Donald Trump for undersecretary of defense for policy, said in a statement for a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing.
   Japan's current plan to double its defense spending to 2 pct of its GDP "is critical and most welcome, but it is inadequate," he said.
   Colby, known for his hard-line stance on China, emphasized that Taiwan needs to spend 10 pct of GDP on defense as it faces increasing military pressure from China.
   "It makes little sense for Japan, which is directly threatened by China and North Korea, to spend only 2 pct," Colby also stated. "Japan must take a much more active and expanded role in its own defense and collective defense in the Western Pacific."

(2025/03/05-09:31)

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