Japan has no plans to join NATO but acknowledges alliance’s liaison office in Tokyo

Asia-Pacific, Europe, News May 25, 2023 , by IRIA No Comments

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said that his country does not intend on joining the NATO alliance but acknowledged NATO’s plans to open a liaison office in Japan. Kishida’s comments came after speculations about NATO’s first liaison office in Asia.

Kishida made the remarks during a parliament session. He said that Japan would not join the NATO alliance as a member or semi-members. He also said that he is not aware of any final decision made at NATO regarding the speculated liaison office in Tokyo. However, he did not negate the possibility of hosting a NATO office in Japan.

Kishida’s response came after Japan’s ambassador to the United States, Koji Tomita, recently confirmed that plans are underway for a NATO liaison office in Tokyo, the first of its kind in Asia, to facilitate regional consultations.

The opening of a NATO liaison office in Japan would mark a significant development for the Western alliance that has been seeking to pave pathways in the region. Earlier this month, Japan’s Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi said that he is in discussion with NATO officials to open a liaison office in Japan, however, no details have been finalized from both sides.

Responding to the possibility of NATO’s increasing activities in the Asia-Pacific region, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said that China does not welcome NATO’s decision to open an office in Japan.

“We want to say that the Asia-Pacific does not welcome group confrontation, does not welcome military confrontation,” Mao said. She also took a dig at Tokyo for growing closer to the U.S.-led military alliance. Mao said that Japan should be “extra cautious on the issue of military security” given its “history of aggression”.

In the wake of China’s military modernization and the region’s changing security dynamics, Tokyo has been growing closer to its Western allies. Japan has recently made a major shift from its traditional pacifist security strategy to adopting a military modernization strategy.

Japan has increased military and diplomatic interactions with South Korea as well as other regional stakeholders such as India and Australia. This gave rise to speculations in some circles that Japan would join the U.S.-led NATO alliance to bolster its position against China.

*^{Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida (center) attends the NATO summit in Madrid on June 30, 2022. (Image Credit: Kyodo)}*

Last week, Japan hosted the Group of Seven (G7) summit in Hiroshima, where the guest list consisted of several heads of state from the NATO member countries. Kishida is expected to attend the NATO summit in July this year, scheduled in Lithuania.

In April 2023, NATO Chief Jens Stoltenberg also met with officials from Japan, South Korea, Australia, and New Zealand to bolster NATO ties with its partners in the Indo-Pacific region. Stoltenberg stressed that “What happens in your region, what happens in the Indo-Pacific matters for Europe. And what happens in Europe matters for you”.