U.S. Looks to Leverage Japan as Counterweight to China

By Shinji Abe / Yomiuri Shimbun Correspondent

7:05 JST, January 17, 2026

WASHINGTON — In a speech last December, U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth identified increased defense spending by allies as a top security priority for the United States. Amid the relative decline of American influence, President Donald Trump’s administration has continued to urge allies to bolster their defenses to deter China.

Last June, NATO set a new target for member states to raise defense spending to 5% of gross domestic product. This was in response to Trump’s vocal dissatisfaction with low spending levels among European members. His administration believes that Indo-Pacific allies, specifically Japan, should follow NATO’S lead.

While the United States has not set a specific numerical target, it has high hopes for Japan — which Hegseth described as a “model ally” — in countering China’s ongoing military expansion. The National Security Strategy, released last December as the U.S. administration’s blueprint for foreign and military policy, noted that because China has not ruled out the use of force to unify Taiwan, the United States will reinforce its own capacity and that of its allies “to deny any attempt to seize Taiwan.”

Strengthening the Japan-U.S. alliance is central to this strategy. The plan aims to enhance the defense capabilities of both the U.S. military and the Self-Defense Forces along the First Island Chain, which links Japan’s Nansei Islands, Taiwan and the Philippines.

On Jan. 2, Trump spoke on the phone with Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi. The leaders agreed to move quicker on preparations for the prime minister’s official visit to the United States this spring.

Cooperation between the countries also extends to economic security. Tokyo and Washington are currently discussing targets for the $550 billion (about ¥87 trillion) Japan has said it will invest in the United States, based on an agreement reached last year. Coordination in the energy sector is considered a high priority. The United States plans to deepen its coordination with Japan to stabilize the Indo-Pacific, a region its National Security Strategy characterizes as an “economic and geopolitical battleground.”