Japan in talks to open NATO office with eyes on Beijing
Mike Brest
Video Embed
Japan is in discussions to open a NATO office in Tokyo, the first of its kind in Asia, due to both the war in Ukraine and an increasingly aggressive China.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg recently visited Japan, and the message he heard from Japanese officials is that “security is not regional anymore, it’s global,” he said on CNN Wednesday morning. “What happens in Europe matters for Asia, and what happens in Asia matters for Europe.”
LLOYD AUSTIN REAFFIRMS COMMITMENT TO SWEDEN, PREDICTS IT WILL JOIN NATO ‘BEFORE JULY’
“Yes, we are talking with Japan about opening a NATO office in Tokyo,” he confirmed. “NATO has several offices in partner countries, and Japan is very close and [an] important partner for NATO, and we agreed at the NATO summit last year that we should step up our partnership with our Indo-Pacific partners — Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and South Korea.”
This office, if it comes to fruition, would further signify deepening global fault lines with and against the U.S. and its Western allies and would almost certainly incur criticism from Beijing, which has previously condemned the possible move.
“Asia is a promising land for cooperation and a hotbed for peaceful development. It should not be a platform for those who seek geopolitical fights,” said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning in a briefing last week. “NATO’s eastward push and interference in Asia-Pacific matters will definitely undermine regional peace and stability.”
The move would also represent another loss for Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose nearly 15-month-long war in Ukraine has only served to strengthen the NATO alliance instead of fracturing it like he expected. The alliance had 30 members at the start of Russia’s war in Ukraine, though Finland and Sweden quickly ended their neutrality for applications to join.
“The reason why we are discussing about this is that since the aggression by Russia to Ukraine, the world [has] become more unstable,” Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi told CNN. “Something happening in East Europe is not only confined to the issue in East Europe, and that affects directly the situation here in the Pacific. That’s why a cooperation between us in East Asia and NATO [is] becoming … increasingly important.”
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Finland became the 31st member earlier this month, while Turkey and Hungary have objected to Sweden’s application. Officials, however, believe Sweden will join the alliance this summer before the NATO summit set to take place in Lithuania in early July.
“Beijing is watching closely what happens in Ukraine,” Stoltenberg added. “The price Putin is paying but also the potential rewards. So, what happens in Ukraine actually matters for the calculations Beijing, China’s making regarding, for instance, Taiwan.”