The new Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s concept for an “Asian NATO” has faced an outpouring of criticism in Southeast Asia.
For years, Ishiba, a former defense minister, has advocated for the establishment of an Asian version of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) military alliance in the Asia-Pacific region.
After taking office on Oct. 1, the 67-year-old senior diplomat did not elaborate on his long-mulled idea of a NATO-style security framework in his inaugural policy speech to parliament. The omission has spurred speculation that his administration is looking to quietly shelve the proposal in the face of widespread criticism from analysts and foreign officials. Even within Ishiba’s newly appointed cabinet, there appears to be little enthusiasm for advancing the idea.
“The concept of an ‘Asian NATO’ always seemed challenging, if not unrealistic, from the outset,” said Ken Jimbo, a regional security expert and professor at Keio University, noting the “significant diversity in security priorities” among countries in the region.
In Ishiba’s own cabinet, Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya last week referred to the Asian NATO plan as “a potential future option,” while defense chief Gen Nakatani sidestepped questions, saying only that he had not received specific instructions from Ishiba on the proposal.
Fellow Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) lawmaker Masahisa Sato, a former vice minister of foreign affairs, said that since a consensus within the government about an Asian NATO has not been reached, “it’s inappropriate for Ishiba to even have mentioned it in his first speech.”
Sato also said that Iwaya’s reference to the plan as a medium- to long-term consideration “is bureaucratic jargon,” implying that the idea won’t actually be pursued, and underscoring division within the LDP.
As for this week’s Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in Vientiane, Ishiba’s first multilateral forum as prime minister, the proposal for a collective security framework in Asia was not raised even once during the summit.
Following the 19th East Asia Summit on Friday, when asked about Ishiba’s “Asian NATO” idea, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told reporters that any form of militarization and any proposals regarding new military blocs come laden with the risk of confrontation, which can develop into a “hot phase.”
Lavrov expressed concerns over Japan’s re-militarization. “Having forgotten the lessons of WWII, the Japanese authorities have stated increasing defense spending and augmenting its basic doctrines with a pre-emptive strike capability,” Lavrov said.
“This clear refusal to abandon the path of peaceful development is a matter of concern for us. This could lead to the collapse of the current global architecture and its replacement with the ‘rules-based order,'” Lavrov added, pointing out Japan’s readiness to align narrow bloc formats such as the AUKUS project.
Lavrov said that it is obvious today that the United States and its allies have decided to draw the Asia-Pacific region into NATO’s sphere of interests by creating all these narrow and exclusive U.S.-led military and political associations.
“We are already ASEAN. We do not need NATO in ASEAN,” Malaysian Foreign Minister Mohamad Hasan told reporters Tuesday ahead of the summit.
India has also indicated that it does not support Ishiba’s proposal. “We have never been a treaty ally of any country. We don’t have that kind of strategic architecture in mind,” External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said.
Regarding the idea of an “Asian NATO,” Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told reporters during ASEAN Summits that “we have our own arrangements,” referring to the QUAD arrangement with Japan, India, and the United States, and that the idea of an Asian NATO has not been raised during these two days.
Australian media commented that the remarks indicated that Albanese “rejects” and “pours cold water” on the “Asian NATO” proposal.
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) said that an “Asian NATO” isn’t happening any time soon, as the response in Southeast Asia has been far from enthusiastic, while others surrounding the region also appeared uninterested.
Lao Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone said the 44th and 45th ASEAN Summits that he presided over discussed ASEAN’s relations with external partners, including its future direction, with the aim of enhancing relations and intensifying cooperation with external partners in accordance with the ASEAN Way, while upholding ASEAN Centrality in the evolving regional architecture, thereby contributing to the ASEAN community-building process as well as the maintenance and promotion of peace, stability and development in the region and the world.
Southeast Asian leaders “would be happy for Japan to play an increased role in security issues in the region, but the idea of an Asian NATO isn’t something they would support,” said Benjamin Ho, assistant professor in the China Program at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore.
“I doubt any of the (Southeast Asian) countries’ leaders would make explicit their support of an Asian NATO,” Ho added.
