The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump has not directly asked Japan to hike its defense budget to 5% of gross domestic product (GDP), Tokyo’s top spokesman said Monday, denying that the demand had prompted the postponement of a key bilateral security meeting.
"Regarding defense spending, there’s no truth to that,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi told a regular news conference, adding that the timing of the “two-plus-two” meeting of the allies’ top foreign affairs and defense officials “has yet to be decided.”
In a statement given to The Japan Times on Friday, top Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell pointed to a majority of NATO nations that have signed on to U.S. requests to boost defense spending to the 5% level, saying that “European allies are now setting the global standard for our alliances, especially in Asia, which is 5% of GDP spending on defense.”
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