Jesse Johnson

Tokyo

News Desk Manager and Reporter at The Japan Times

Defense/diplomacy @Japantimes • views my own • jesse.johnson @ japantimes. co. jp / Signal: jljzen.18 / https://t.co/Y3CzQ8kYrE

Featured in: Favicon

japantimes.co.jp Favicon

military.com Favicon

taskandpurpose.com Favicon

stripes.com Favicon

americanmilitarynews.com Favicon

cnas.org

manilatimes.net Favicon

warisboring.com Favicon

realcleardefense.com Favicon

defense-aerospace.com + 8 more

Articles

Japan denies U.S. directly asked it to hike defense spending to 5% of GDP

5 days ago | japantimes.co.jp | Jesse Johnson

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.
Japan scraps ‘two-plus-two’ meeting with U.S. over defense spending demand, report says

1 week ago | japantimes.co.jp | Jesse Johnson

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.
Chinese aircraft carriers conducted over 1,000 sorties during Pacific training

1 week ago | japantimes.co.jp | Jesse Johnson

China’s two operational aircraft carriers conducted about 1,000 takeoffs and landings of fighter jets based on the vessels during sailings that have seen the Chinese Navy punch increasingly farther into the Pacific Ocean, Japan’s defense chief said Friday. Defense Minister Gen Nakatani told a news conference that the Chinese aircraft carriers Liaonging and Shandong had conducted the flight operations through Thursday after being tracked from late May.
Pentagon says Japan must meet ‘global standard’ and spend 5% of GDP on defense

1 week ago | japantimes.co.jp | Jesse Johnson

The Pentagon has set a “global standard” for Japan and other U.S. allies to spend 5% of gross domestic product on defense, in the first official confirmation that Washington is asking Tokyo to pump up its defense budget even further.
In rare move, Japan releases map showing Chinese aircraft carrier activities

1 week ago | japantimes.co.jp | Jesse Johnson

The Japanese Defense Ministry has made the rare decision to release a map depicting the movements of the Chinese military’s two aircraft carriers in recent weeks — an unusual effort apparently aimed at drawing attention to Beijing’s naval activities in the Pacific. China’s two operating carriers were spotted conducting simultaneous operations in the Pacific for the first time last week, in what Japanese defense officials have said is a significant expansion of Chinese naval activities.
Asia overshadowed as G7 struggles with crises and lack of unity

1 week ago | japantimes.co.jp | Gabriel Dominguez |Jesse Johnson

Discussions about the Indo-Pacific — specifically China — were largely overshadowed at this year's two-day Group of Seven leaders' summit in Canada, with the focus squarely on the Israel-Iran conflict, adding to fears of disengagement from the region.
Ishiba holds first meeting with South Korea's Lee

1 week ago | japantimes.co.jp | Jesse Johnson

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and new South Korean President Lee Jae-myung met for the first time Tuesday on the sidelines of the Group of Seven (G7) summit in western Canada, as the two leaders look to maintain continuity in stabilizing ties. The South Korean leader emphasized the need for "future-oriented cooperation" amid global trade challenges, the Yonhap news agency reported Wednesday, as both countries grapple with unilateral tariffs imposed by their mutual ally, the United States.
Trump to return to Washington early from G7 summit amid Israel-Iran conflict

1 week ago | japantimes.co.jp | Jesse Johnson

U.S. President Donald Trump was pulling out of a meeting of Group of Seven leaders on Monday in Canada and heading back to Washington due to the fighting between Israel and Iran, the White House said in a sudden announcement. "President Trump had a great day at the G7, even signing a major trade deal with the United Kingdom and Prime Minister Keir Starmer," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on X.
G7 backs Israel’s ‘right to defend itself’ as Trump hastily leaves summit

1 week ago | japantimes.co.jp | Jesse Johnson |Gabriel Dominguez

Group of Seven leaders have backed Israel’s “right to defend itself” and labeled Iran a “principal source of regional instability” in a tersely worded joint statement released just hours after U.S. President Donald Trump hastily pulled out of the bloc’s annual summit in Canada. The short statement came as Israel and Iran traded strikes on each others’ territories for a fifth day Tuesday following the start of the Israeli military’s surprise assault on Friday.
South Korea’s Lee open to trilateral meet with Ishiba and Trump at G7

1 week ago | japantimes.co.jp | Jesse Johnson

New South Korean President Lee Jae-myung expressed an openness Sunday to holding a trilateral meeting with Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and U.S. President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the Group of Seven summit in Canada later this week. Any talks would be the first trilateral meeting for all three leaders since taking office, and would symbolize a commitment to continuing a trend of building closer security ties under their predecessors.