Yoshimasa Hayashi has said that Japan is in talks with NATO for opening a liaison office in the country
The Foreign Minister of Japan – Yoshimasa Hayashi has said that Japan is in talks with North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) for opening a liaison office in the country.
This would be the first of its kind in Asia. Hayashi specifically cited Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as an event with repercussions far beyond Europe’s borders that forced Japan to rethink regional security.
Speaking on the occasion, Hayashi said, “We are already in discussions, but no details (have been) finalized yet. The reason why we are discussing about this is that since the aggression by Russia to Ukraine, the world (has) become more unstable.”
He further said, “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.”
Japan is not a treaty member of NATO but the move sends a message the bloc’s Asia Pacific partners are “engaging in a very steady manner with NATO. The opening of a NATO liaison office in Japan would mark a significant development for the Western alliance amid deepening geopolitical fault lines and is likely to attract criticism from China, which has previously warned against such a move.
NATO has similar liaison offices in other places including Ukraine and Vienna. The liaison office in Japan will enable discussions with NATO’s security partners, such as South Korea, Australia and New Zealand, on geopolitical challenges, emerging and disruptive technologies, and cyber threats.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine saw countries like Japan and South Korea drawing closer to their Western partners while presenting a united front against perceived threats closer to home. Tensions between Japan and Russia have also been increasing in recent months, fuelled in part by Russian military drills in the waters between the two nations, and joint Chinese-Russian naval patrols in the Western Pacific close to Japan.
In April 2023, Russian warships conducted anti-submarine exercises in the Sea of Japan, also known as the East Sea. Prior to this, in March 2023, Russian missile boats fired cruise missiles at a mock target in the same waters. In response to the Prime Minister of Japan – Fumio Kishida’s surprise visit to Ukraine in March 2023, 2 Russian strategic bombers, capable of carrying nuclear weapons, flew over waters off the Japanese coast for more than 7 hours.
Apart from Russia, Japan is also contending with a nuclear-armed North Korea and a rising China. It is to be noted that China has been growing its naval and air forces in areas near Japan while claiming the Senkaku Islands, an uninhabited Japanese-controlled chain in the East China Sea, as its sovereign territory. Besides, Japan recently announced plans for its biggest military build-up since World War II.
Talking about China, Hayashi said that Japan wants a constructive and stable relationship with China. He said that Japan and other countries still need to cooperate with China on larger issues such as climate change and Coronavirus (COVID-19).
China has previously warned NATO from expanding its reach into Asia and responded angrily to previous reports on the possible Japan office. It is to be noted that in March 2023, Senior Chinese Foreign Ministry Officials accused the United States (U.S.) of seeking to build a NATO-like bloc in the Indo-Pacific, with one official warning of unimaginable consequences.
