Japan has proposed to create an Asian NATO in order to counter the growing influence of China in the world’s largest continent. Shigeru Ishiba, the Prime Minister of Japan, recently used the phrase Asian NATO while delivering a speech at the Hudson Institute, a Washington DC-based non-partisan think-tank. A section of experts in International Relations believes that Japan’s proposal would have a great impact on foreign policy of the US!

Ishiba, the leader of Liberal Democratic Party, is of the opinion that the formation of the Asian NATO could only counter the aggressive foreign policy of China which is trying hard to stamp its authority in the Indo-Pacific Region. According to the former Defence Minister of Japan, Tokyo has already started communicating with its friendly countries, including the US, in this regard. In fact, Japan wants the US to join the proposed Asian NATO. If Washington DC eventually agrees to Tokyo’s proposal, then the Pacific Island nation shall be able to keep its Army in the Transatlantic country. Sources close to the US have claimed that it would be the biggest challenge for Washington DC to accept the proposal diplomatically!

Speaking at the event at Hudson Institute in the last week of September 2024, Ishiba revealed the blueprint of Asian NATO, explaining how the proposed military alliance would resist China. He stressed: “The absence of a collective self-defence system, like NATO, in Asia means that wars are likely to break out because there is no obligation for mutual defence.” He also expressed serious concern over the aggressive foreign policy of China, stating that the Chinese warships often sail around his country without any provocation!

Meanwhile, the US has rejected Japan’s proposal to create a military alliance, like NATO, in Asia! Daniel J Krittenbrink, the US Assistant Secretary of State (for East Asian and Pacific Affairs), has insisted: “It is too early to talk about collective security in that context, and (the creation of) more formal institutions.” Instead, he advocated for a continuation of the Biden Administration’s foreign policy approach of building a “latticework” of US alliances in the region, stressing: “What we are focused on is investing in the region’s existing formal architecture and continuing to build this network of formal and informal relationships. And then, we will see where that goes.”

No matter what the US says, the Prime Minister of Japan plans to stick to his position. After returning from the US, Ishiba told the local media in Tokyo: “The relative decline of the US might” has made an Asian treaty organisation necessary.

It may be recalled that the US defeated Japan in the Second World War. The US dropped atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6 and August 9, 1945, respectively. Thereafter, Japan surrendered and the US started protecting the Asian nation with its nuclear arsenal, an aircraft carrier, fighter jets and some 50,000 troops! The US is also responsible for the security of Japan’s nuclear power plants.

The scenario has changed in recent times, with China expanding its footprint in the region! Japan requested the US to deploy nuclear weapons in the Asia-Pacific nation in 2022. However, the US rejected the request. Then, a disgruntled Japan began advocating for military alliances with friendly nations, like Australia and South Korea! It is believed that Ishiba would soon urge Britain and France to join the proposed military alliance in Asia in an attempt to put the US under diplomatic pressure.

According to sources, Japan wants member-countries of QUAD (a strategic security dialogue between Australia, India, Japan and the US) and AUKUS (a trilateral security partnership between Australia, the UK and the US) to join the Asian NATO! It will allow Japan to receive help from three nuclear powers, Britain, India and the US, if required. Ishiba argued: “If China’s strategic nuclear weapons are added to these dynamics, the US extended deterrence in the region will no longer function. This is to be supplemented by an Asian version of NATO, which must ensure deterrence against the nuclear alliance of China, Russia and North Korea.” He also hinted that Japan wanted to rebalance its alliance with the US, including greater oversight of US military bases in Japan, a regular source of friction with locals.

Interestingly, India is not ready to join the proposed Asian NATO because the South Asian nation would have to get into trouble with other countries in the Indo-Pacific Region sans many a reason. Dr Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, the External Affairs Minister of India, has claimed that New Delhi does not share Prime Minister Ishiba’s view of the QUAD and other alliances, involving Japan, eventually forming an Asian NATO-like structure to deter China from using military force. Reuters has quoted the Indian minister as saying: “He is Japanese. This is a country which has a treaty relationship with the US. We do not have that kind of strategic architecture in mind. We have… a different history and different way of approaching.“

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Published by Koushik Das

Koushik Das (born on May 16, 1976 in Kolkata) is a career journalist. Based in the Indian capital of New Delhi, Koushik writes mainly about foreign policies and current geopolitical issues, and rarely about other topics. His own political ideas are highly influenced by Antonio Gramsci, Louis Althusser, Michel Foucault, Michael Oakeshott and others. English philosopher and political theorist Oakeshott (Dec 11, 1901-Dec 19, 1990) says that “in political activity, men sail a boundless and bottomless sea. There is neither harbour for shelter nor floor for anchorage, neither starting-place, nor appointed destination. But we have to keep afloat”. (Rationalism in Politics, 1962) As a student of Political Science, Koushik loves to share his views on issues, which have great impacts on his thought process (and also on India, South Asia and of course on the global community), with his readers through his website – Boundless Ocean of Politics. By doing so, he tries to keep himself afloat. You will find some of his articles in https://inserbia.info/today/ (https://inserbia.info/today/author/kou_das13_i/), as he has been trying to assess the global geopolitics since 2003. You can also mail him at kousdas@gmail.com View all posts by Koushik Das