Japan won't join NATO, but local office considered to facilitate consultations with allies, says PM Kishida

Japan had no plans to become a NATO member but the security alliance’s plan to open a liaison office in the country is given a go-ahead, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Wednesday.

Kishida’s comments came after the Japanese ambassador to the United States earlier this month said that the U.S.-led military pact was planning a Tokyo office, the first in Asia, to facilitate consultations in the region.

“I am not aware of any decision made” at NATO regarding the establishment of the office, Kishida told a Wednesday parliament session, adding his country was not planning to join NATO as a member or semi-member state.

Earlier this month, China said “high vigilance” was needed in the face of NATO’s “eastward expansion” following a media report the alliance is planning to set up an office in Japan to facilitate consultations with allies in the region.

NATO is planning to open its first liaison office in Asia, in Japan, to facilitate talks with security partners such as South Korea, Australia and New Zealand, with geopolitical challenges from China and Russia in mind, the Nikkei Asia reported on Wednesday, citing Japanese and NATO officials.

Mao Ning, a spokesperson for the Chinese foreign ministry, said Asia was a “promising land for cooperation and development and should not be a battle arena for geopolitics”.

“NATO’s continual eastward expansion in the Asia-Pacific, interference in regional affairs, attempts to destroy regional peace and stability, and push for bloc confrontation calls for high vigilance from countries in the region,” Mao told a regular press conference.

With inputs from agencies

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