Japan has no choice but to strengthen defense, foreign minister says

PHOTO CAPTION: Illustrative photo via Grey Dynamics

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -     Japan will continue to strengthen its defence capabilities given the security situation in East Asia, Japan's foreign minister told his U.S. counterpart in a meeting on Tuesday, his spokesperson said.

The return of U.S. President Donald Trump has prompted expectations that Washington may put more pressure on allies to further step up defence spending. 

Spurred by concerns about China's growing military might and nuclear-armed North Korea, Tokyo is undertaking an historic defence build-up.

Japan's Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya met with Trump's Secretary of State Marco Rubio and National Security Advisor Mike Waltz on Tuesday in Washington.   

Iwaya told Rubio and Waltz that Japan had no choice but to continue increasing defense capabilities given the situation in East Asia, foreign ministry spokesperson Toshihiro Kitamura told a news conference in Washington. 

 (Reporting by David Brunnstrom; Writing by John Geddie; Editing by Himani Sarkar and Michael Perry)