Pentagon chief Hegseth says 'warrior' Japan indispensable to deter China

Pete Hegseth, US secretary of defense, speaks to Gen Nakatani, Japan's defense minister, not photographed, during a meeting at the Ministry of Defense in Tokyo, Japan, on Sunday, Mar 30, 2025. Kiyoshi Ota/Pool via REUTERS

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Sunday that Japan was indispensable in tackling Chinese aggression by helping Washington establish a "credible" deterrence in the region, including across the Taiwan Strait.

"We share a warrior ethos that defines our forces," Hegseth told Japanese Defence Minister Gen Nakatani at a meeting in Tokyo.

Calling Japan a "cornerstone of peace and security in the Indo-Pacific", the Pentagon indicated that suggested President Donald Trump's government would, like past administrations, continue to work closely with its key Asian ally.

Japan hosts around 50,000 US military personnel, squadrons of fighter squadrons and Washington's only forward deployed aircraft carrier strike group along a 3,000-km (1,900-mile) archipelago that helps them in Chinese military power.

Hegseth's praise of Japan contrasts with the criticism he levelled at European allies in February, telling them they should not assume the US presence there would last forever.

Hegseth, who is in Asia on his first official visit, travelled to Japan from the Philippines. On Saturday he attended a memorial service on Iwo Jima, the site 80 years ago of fierce fighting between US and Japanese forces during World War Two.