Pete Hegseth, Japanese leaders warn of ‘severe’ security threats posed by China

TOKYO — U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba wrapped up a high-level meeting Sunday with a stark warning that security threats in the Asia Pacific region are “severe,” with both men emphasizing that the U.S.-Japan alliance is critical to countering an aggressive communist China.

The prime minister and Japanese Defense Minister Gen Nakatani both vowed to work with Mr. Hegseth and the Trump administration to tighten the relationship with the U.S., though neither offered a firm commitment to defend Taiwan or to increase Japan’s defense spending.

“It is extremely important to strengthen the Japan-U.S. alliance,” Mr. Ishiba said.

Mr. Hegseth said after meeting with Mr. Nakatani that the U.S. is creating a new “warfighting headquarters” to better deter Chinese military action in the region, including any potential threat to Taiwan.

On the U.S.-Japan alliance, Mr. Hegseth said, “Our forces operate and train together across all domains to uphold deterrence.”


“America and Japan stand firmly together in the face of aggressive and coercive actions by the communist Chinese,” he told reporters at a press conference at the Defense Ministry.

A new joint force headquarters is being set up to upgrade the 55,000 troops of the U.S. Forces Japan.

The upgrade is intended to improve the U.S. military’s ability to coordinate operations with Japan’s joint operations command, which was recently set up.

The new headquarters is also designed to increase military readiness for regional crises or conflicts.

The Pentagon will add additional troops to the new unit and provide commanders with expanded authorities.

“We must be prepared. We look forward to working closely together as we improve our warfighting capabilities, our lethality and our readiness,” Mr. Hegseth said, adding that the United States seeks peace but will prepare for war.

Mr. Nakatani also said the two defense chiefs discussed “the severe security situation facing Japan.”

“Both sides confirmed the need to strengthen the Japan-U.S. alliance, deterrence and the response capabilities,” Mr. Nakatani said at the press conference. “During our discussions I shared how Japan is, through our own part, making strong efforts to drastically strengthen our defense capabilities, and I conveyed our efforts to fundamentally strengthen defense capabilities.”

The Trump administration is said to be considering pressuring Tokyo to increase its defense spending sharply from the current 2% of its gross domestic product to at least 3%.

However, both defense chiefs said no specific figures were discussed during the closed-door talks regarding Japanese defense spending.

Mr. Nakatani said Japan will strengthen its defense capabilities responsibly and “at its own discretion” and based on its national security strategy.

“With that being said, the Ministry of Defense is going to communicate closely with the Trump administration, including Secretary Hegseth, in order to further strengthen the alliance capabilities to deter and respond,” the defense minister said.

Mr. Hegseth said both he and Mr. Nakatani were in agreement “about the severe nature of the threat” and the importance of reestablishing deterrence.

Pentagon officials have said they are confident Japan, long a model ally, will make the appropriate decisions about its military capabilities.

Asked about Chinese President Xi Jinping’s order to his military to be ready to annex Taiwan militarily by 2027, Mr. Hegseth said deterrence of China was weakened during the Biden administration which saw the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the murderous terror attacks in Israel and the deadly U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.

“Those incidents and others, including the nature of our relationships with our allies, created a vacuum, a perception that America was not strong and wasn’t prepared to deter conflicts,” Mr. Hegseth said. “Our job now, at this moment here, with our allies, is to say we are re-establishing deterrence, peace through strength … and we will ensure in every way that we are leaning forward in that deterrence posture because we don’t want to live in a day where an action like [a Taiwan invasion] is taken.”

President Trump plans to leverage American economic relationships to maintain peace, Mr. Hegseth said.

“Our job at the Defense Department, with our friends, and on the military side, is to build an alliance so robust that both the reality and the perception of deterrence is real and ongoing, so that the communist Chinese don’t take the aggressive actions that some have contemplated they will,” Mr. Hegseth said.

Asked if Japan will join the United States and its allies in defending Taiwan during a Chinese attack, Mr. Nakatani said Japan’s position is that peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait is important for Japan’s security.

He said Taiwan was discussed during the talks, but he said any decision to join a U.S. military response to a Chinese action against Taiwan would be made based on specific conditions.

“Therefore it will be difficult to give you a general answer,” he said. “In any case, we will be considering this specific response based on the constitution, international law and our domestic legislation.”

Mr. Hegseth said the U.S.-Japan alliance is the cornerstone of peace and security in the Indo-Pacific region.