Japan's foreign minister said the Pacific Island nation is exploring opening a liaison office for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, which would be the first of its kind in Asia.
"We are already in discussions, but no details [have been] finalized yet," Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi told CNN Wednesday. "The reason why we are discussing about this is that since the aggression by Russia to Ukraine, the world [has] become more unstable."
"Something happening in East Europe is not only confined to the issue in East Europe, and that affects directly the situation here in the Pacific. That's why a cooperation between us in East Asia and NATO [is] becoming … increasingly important."
He added that while Japan is not a treaty member of NATO, opening a liaison office would show that the bloc's Asia Pacific partners are "engaging in a very steady manner" with it.
The move would represent a significant development for the Western organization, as geopolitical alliances deepen and China's saber-rattling intensifies.
Nikkei Asia reported last week that the planned liaison office in Japan will allow NATO to conduct discussions with Tokyo and other key regional partners such as South Korea, Australia and New Zealand on issues including cyber threats, emerging and disruptive technologies and countering Beijing.
NATO has similar liaison offices in other parts of the world, including Vienna and Ukraine.
"As to plans to open a liaison office in Japan, we won't go into the details of ongoing deliberations among NATO allies," a NATO spokesperson told CNN in a statement, adding that NATO and Japan "have a long-standing cooperation."
China has claimed the uninhabited Japanese-controlled Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea as its sovereign territory, while building up its naval and air forces in areas near Japan. With the threat of aggression growing, Japan recently announced its most substantial military buildup since World War II.
The relationship between Japan and Russia has also been increasingly fraught in recent months, aggravated in part by Russian military drills in the waters separating the two nations and joint Chinese-Russian naval patrols in the Western Pacific.
Despite rising regional tensions, Hayashi said the possible opening of the office was not intended "to be sending a message" to any specific country.
Japan and other countries still need to work with China on broader issues like climate change and COVID-19, Hayashi told CNN, and stressed that Tokyo wants a "constructive and stable relationship" with Beijing.
China responded angrily to reports of the possible Japan liaison office, having warned NATO previously about expanding into Asia.
"Asia is a promising land for cooperation and a hotbed for peaceful development, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said in a briefing last week. "It should not be a platform for those who seek geopolitical fights. NATO's eastward push and interference in Asia Pacific matters will definitely undermine regional peace and stability."
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