Insiders say Japan has cancelled its meeting with the United States scheduled for early next month.

On the 20th local time, Japan canceled its scheduled talks with the United States after the sudden request from the United States to increase defense spending. Japanese Defense Minister Motoya Nakatani and Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya were originally scheduled to hold the Japan-US 2+2 talks with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and US Defense Secretary Mark Esper in Washington on July 1. Currently, the Japanese Ministry of Defense has refused to comment on whether the talks have been canceled, and the US State Department and the Pentagon have not issued any comments either. According to sources, Japan canceled the talks after the US requested Japan to increase defense spending to 3.5%, higher than the previous request of 3%. A senior Japanese official stated that the decision to cancel the talks is also related to the Japanese House of Councillors election on July 20, where it is expected that the ruling Liberal Democratic Party of Japan will lose seats.