Pentagon chief Hegseth says 'warrior' Japan indispensable to deter China
US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, who is in Asia on his first official visit, called Japan a "cornerstone of peace and security in the Indo-Pacific".
US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth (centre left) and Gen Nakatani, Japan's defense minister, during a welcome ceremony at the Ministry of Defense in Tokyo, Japan, on Mar 30. (Photo: Reuters/ Kiyoshi Ota)
TOKYO: US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said on Sunday (Mar 30) that Japan was indispensable in tackling Chinese aggression by helping Washington establish a "credible" deterrence in the region, including across the Taiwan Strait.
"We share a warrior ethos that defines our forces," Hegseth told Japanese Defence Minister Gen Nakatani at a meeting in Tokyo.
Calling Japan a "cornerstone of peace and security in the Indo-Pacific", the Pentagon indicated that President Donald Trump's government would, like past administrations, continue to work closely with its key Asian ally.
Japan hosts around 50,000 US military personnel, fighter squadrons and Washington's only forward deployed aircraft carrier strike group along a 3,000km archipelago that helps hem in Chinese military power.
Hegseth's praise of Japan contrasts with the criticism he levelled at European allies in February, telling them they should not assume the US presence there would last forever.
Hegseth, who is in Asia on his first official visit, travelled to Japan from the Philippines. On Saturday he attended a memorial service on Iwo Jima, the site 80 years ago of fierce fighting between US and Japanese forces during World War Two.
