( CNN ) -- Japan 's new prime minister on Friday offered the world a vision of his country as a reinvigorated Asian power , pledging to restore its influence in a region where it is increasingly eclipsed by China . `` Japan is not , and will never be , a tier-two country , '' Shinzo Abe said in a speech to members of the US foreign policy establishment , following his first meeting with President Barack Obama . `` It is high time , in this age of Asian resurgence , for Japan to bear even more responsibility to promote our shared rules and values . '' Mr Abe 's declaration that `` Japan is back '' could raise hackles in China , where a new leadership is keen to establish that country as a more dominant political force , befitting its position as Asia 's largest economy . Mr Abe , a conservative nationalist , referred to a rare increase in Japan 's military spending and made a forceful reassertion of Tokyo 's claim to the Senkaku Islands , whose ownership has been contested by Beijing , saying Japan `` simply can not tolerate any challenge now , or in the future '' . But he also tried to assure US leaders that he was working to avoid escalating a dispute which Washington has made clear it does not want to be drawn into , suggesting he might be open to meeting Chinese leaders to try to ease tensions over the islands . `` The doors are always open on my side for the Chinese leaders , '' Mr Abe said . China on Friday criticised Mr Abe after the Washington Post published an interview quoting him as saying Beijing had a `` deeply ingrained '' need to challenge its neighbours over territory . Japanese officials said the quote was `` misleading '' and Mr Abe had not said China sought conflicts with other countries . Mr Abe came to Washington seeking to erase a perceived ambivalence about Japan 's relations with the US that was created by the previous centre-left government , which Mr Abe 's Liberal Democratic party defeated in national elections in December . Japan has swapped prime ministers six times since Mr Abe first held the office in a short and scandal-marred tenure from 2006 to 2007 . One of his biggest challenges is to convince the Obama administration that his second stint will last long enough for him to follow through on his promises . Mr Abe has made a robust start , launching an economic stimulus programme of increased government spending and looser monetary policy that has lifted the Japanese stock market and pushed his poll ratings to around 70 per cent . Washington has been broadly supportive of the effort , even though it has led to a sharp fall in the yen that has alarmed some of Japan 's trade partners and prompted concerns about a potential `` currency war '' of competitive devaluations . Mr Abe pressed his government 's case that a healthier Japanese economy would be good for the rest of the world . `` Soon , Japan will export more , but it will import more as well . The US will be the first to benefit , followed by China , India , Indonesia and so on , '' he said . He also moved Japan a step closer to joining an effort to create a trans-Pacific free-trade zone . In a joint statement , Mr Abe and Mr Obama said `` all goods would be subject to negotiation '' should Japan join the US and a group of mostly Asian countries in talks over the Trans-Pacific Partnership , but that `` it is not required to make a prior commitment to unilaterally eliminate all tariffs '' . That wording appeared to be broad enough to allow Mr Abe to claim that joining negotiations would not break an election promise to protect Japanese farmers . `` It is my understanding that giving up all 'sacred areas ' is not pre-condition , '' he said .
Japan 's new prime minister offered a vision of his country as a reinvigorated Asian power . Shinzo Abe pledges to restore its influence as it is increasingly eclipsed by China . Abe in Washington : `` Japan is not , and will never be , a tier-two country ''