U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel praised Japan and Primer Minister Fumio Kishida on Wednesday for pledging to bolster the U.S.-Japan alliance by pursuing what Kishida has said would be a major increase in the country’s defense budget, as China continues its assertive moves in the region.

Speaking at a panel discussion with former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Tokyo, the ambassador also vowed that Washington would remain a “permanent Pacific presence and power” as the Ukraine crisis reverberates across Asia.

Emanuel said that while there are “lessons to be learned from Ukraine,” Kishida had acknowledged the need to bolster Japan’s deterrent capabilities months before the war began.