Japan’s New Strategy: Japan is going to get a new PM soon. Meanwhile, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party will elect its president on September 27. In such a situation, who will replace PM Fumio Kishida? Regarding these speculations, the LDP has revealed 9 names. One of which is former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba. Ishiba’s candidature is being seen with great hope at the global level, because he has been a vocal supporter of a military alliance in Asia like NATO, the military alliance between North American and European countries.,
According to a Reuters report, China’s growing dominance in the Asia-Pacific region and the China-Russia military partnership have created new challenging situations in the region. Ishiba emphasizes the need to create an organization like NATO to face the challenges posed by the two authoritarian regimes. He has said that he wants to create an “Asian version of NATO”. Along with this, he wants to bring parity in the Japan-US Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA).
Ishiba is pushing for Asian NATO
Prime Ministerial candidate Shigeru Ishiba has made the proposed military alliance a key agenda of his campaign as he seeks to become Japan’s prime minister, explaining how Japan should prepare to face military challenges in the region, especially when facing its arch-rival China.
It is important for Japan to decide its direction on military matters
Ishiba’s first push for a NATO-like organisation in Asia comes after the US-backed military alliance’s efforts to open a liaison office in Tokyo. PM Fumio Kishida even attended the NATO summit in the US in July. However, Ishiba has not yet fully clarified the scope of an Asian version of NATO.
He said, “We need to amend the constitution to ensure our unconditional right to self-defense. Without this, we cannot join the Asia-Pacific NATO.” He stressed that it is important for Japan to determine its own direction on military matters.
Know what Asian NATO will be like?
During an event in Japan, Ishiba said that more thought needs to be given to how the US-Japan alliance works. There is no joint command structure like the US and South Korea. This is something we need. Ishiba is considering countries like the Philippines, South Korea and Australia for his military alliance plan, in which the US may also have some role.
He said that I believe that the US-Japan alliance is very important, but this does not mean trying to meet all the demands of America. It is important to behave well with America, but it is not in Japan’s interest to expand its military capabilities just to please America.
Japan is already included in the Quad
However, Japan is already part of the Indo-Pacific Security Quad, which has Australia, India and the US as other members. The Quad often conducts joint military exercises. In such a situation, China considers it a threat in the same way as NATO is for Russia.