After support for Ukraine, Kishida aims for NATO unity on China

When Prime Minister Fumio Kishida becomes the first Japanese leader to attend a NATO leaders summit on Wednesday, he’ll be looking to stress the need for unity in preventing China from taking the “wrong lessons” from the Ukraine war as the bloc looks to expand its footprint in the Indo-Pacific.

The Japanese leader is hoping to raise the alarm over Beijing’s economic and military assertiveness in Asia and beyond. At the NATO summit in Madrid, Kishida will find a welcoming partner with intersecting interests on the challenge posed by China.

“We have seen attempts to change the status quo by force continuing and increasing in the Indo-Pacific,” Kishida was quoted as telling his Group of Seven counterparts Sunday in an apparent reference to China’s moves in the region.

“We need to ensure other countries do not draw wrong lessons from the situation in Ukraine,” he said, calling for the safeguarding of the rules-based international order.

Kishida’s strong criticism of the Russian invasion — he has repeatedly warned that “Ukraine today may be East Asia tomorrow” — is expected to help galvanize support for NATO’s growing presence in the region and contribute to shaping its new strategy toward China.

China’s tacit support for Russia in its invasion of Ukraine and their “no-limits” partnership “has reinforced the perception that the trans-Atlantic and the Indo-Pacific theaters are interconnected,” said Celine Pajon, head of Japan research at the French Institute of International Relations’ Center for Asian Studies in Paris.

“Japan’s swift and firm reaction to Russia’s aggression was very much welcome in Europe, and reinforced Japan’s credibility as … a capable security partner,” she added.

> Read the full article on The Japan Times' website.