Japan has canceled a high-level meeting with the U.S. set for July following a demand that Tokyo spend even more on defense, according to a media report.
Tokyo abruptly scrapped annual “two-plus-two” security talks involving the allies’ top diplomats and defense chiefs less than two weeks before the meeting after the U.S. asked Japan to hike its defense budget to 3.5% of gross domestic product, the Financial Times reported Friday, citing unidentified sources.
Defense Minister Gen Nakatani and Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya had been scheduled to meet U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in Washington on July 1 for the talks.
