U.S. House Panel Head Urges Japan to Boost Defense Spending

Washington, Oct. 25 (Jiji Press)–A U.S. House committee chair has urged Japan to increase its defense spending in a bid to deter coercive actions by China, which has been intensifying pressure on Japan and other U.S. allies. “I believe it’s important that Japanese defense spending recognizes the threats that exist in the Indo-Pacific from an increasingly aggressive China,” John Moolenaar, chairman of the House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party, said in a recent interview. “I think it is important to view China realistically,” he suggested, referring to China’s coercive acts in the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait, as well as its attempts to influence elections in other countries. “We see them becoming more aggressive against our friends and allies,” Moolenaar said in the interview ahead of U.S. President Donald Trump’s visit to Japan from Monday and his summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea on Thursday. Moolenaar added that he thinks it is important, because of Japan’s economic leadership, that “military strength is projected to deter aggression from China.” In June, Chief Pentagon Spokesman Sean Parnell said that U.S. allies in the Asia-Pacific region needed to raise their defense expenditures to 5 pct of gross domestic product. Moolenaar’s remarks apparently underlined the view that the idea of increased Japanese defense spending being necessary to contain China has also gained traction among members of the U.S. Congress. Moolenaar also expressed concern over China’s recent announcement of tougher curbs on rare earth exports, ahead of the upcoming U.S.-China summit. The move revealed how far China’s Xi “will go to advance his agenda regardless of the impact on others around the world,” he said, while expressing expectations that the situation will improve at the upcoming summit. On issues linked to Taiwan, Moolenaar claimed that a Xi order to make preparations for taking Taiwan by 2027 by force was “factual information.” He said the key to preventing a possible invasion is strong cooperation, primarily with Japan and South Korea. He offered congratulations to Sanae Takaichi on her election as Japan’s first female prime minister on Tuesday, saying that people in the United States “are very excited about the new prime minister, and want to wish her the very best.” END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]