TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Popular Reads
Top Results
No results found. Please check your search term and try again
Can't find what you're looking for?
View all search results
Popular Reads
Top Results
No results found. Please check your search term and try again
Can't find what you're looking for?
View all search resultsJapan won't join NATO, but aware of liaison office plan: Kishida
Kishida's comments came after the Japanese ambassador to the United States said earlier this month that the US-led military pact was planning a Tokyo office, the first in Asia, to facilitate consultations in the region.
Change text size
Gift Premium Articles
to Anyone
Share the best of The Jakarta Post with friends, family, or colleagues. As a subscriber, you can gift 3 to 5 articles each month that anyone can read—no subscription needed!
(From left) Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and South Korea's President Yoon Suk-yeol pose for a group photograph ahead of a Indo-Pacific Partners meeting during the NATO summit at the Ifema congress centre in Madrid, on June 29, 2022.
(AFP/Pierre-Philippe MARCOU )
J
apanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said on Wednesday the country had no plans to become a NATO member but acknowledged the security alliance's plan to open a liaison office in Japan.
Kishida's comments came after the Japanese ambassador to the United States said earlier this month that the US-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.
In response, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning called Japan's move something the Asia-Pacific region "does not welcome," saying Tokyo should be "extra cautious on the issue of military security" given its "history of aggression".
Japan hosted the Group of Seven summit in Hiroshima over the weekend, where the leaders of rich democracies agreed to "de-risk, not decouple" economic engagement with China and reaffirmed the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.
Kishida is arranging to attend a NATO summit scheduled to be held in Lithuania in July, Kyodo news agency reported later on Wednesday, citing Japanese government officials.
