Japan and NATO an ill-intentioned double act: China Daily editorial

The Foreign Ministry of Japan on Tuesday disclosed a planned fiscal budget for 2023 that indicates it intends to make Japan's mission to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization an independent body with its own ambassador.

Currently, the country's embassy in Belgium serves as the mission to NATO as well. The budget, which is likely to be approved by the country's legislature that is dominated by the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, is another indication that Japan is taking steps to strengthen its ties with NATO.

In June, Fumio Kishida attended the NATO summit in Madrid, the first time a sitting Japanese prime minister has attended one of the transatlantic security summits.

At the summit, the NATO heads of state and government approved a new "Strategic Concept" for the alliance that focuses on addressing what it described as a "systemic threat" from China as well as the supposed challenge from Russia.

The bloc's new mission statement has revealed the alliance's true colors as an aggressive and expansionist war machine serving the US' hegemony. Insatiably expanding eastwards since the end of the Cold War, which has triggered the Ukraine crisis, NATO now has the Asia-Pacific region in its sights.

Japan issued a political declaration with NATO in 2003 on bilateral cooperation in disaster relief and fighting terrorists and pirates, but it is clear that it is now seeking to facilitate NATO extending its remit to the Asia-Pacific as part of its bid for full militarization.

Japan's desire to militarize and amend its Constitution to allow non-defensive military actions and the inevitable buildup of NATO forces in the Asia-Pacific as a result of any security cooperation with Japan bodes ill for the region.

Given some of the NATO members have already displayed their readiness to cause trouble in the Taiwan Straits and Japan has been emboldened to meddle in the Taiwan question by the provocative actions of the United States, the certain escalation of tensions in the region will provide Japan with the pretext to take advantage of its partnership with NATO to justify the dismantling of the postwar restrictions on its militarization.

Since the defense spending of a NATO member is expected to be at least 2 percent of their gross domestic product, double Japan's current proportion, aligning itself with the bloc, in whatever capacity, will provide Tokyo with a convenient excuse to double its military spending, which would make it the third-largest military spender in the world.

Japan and NATO have been trying to justify their collusion by seeking to draw a parallel between the Ukraine crisis and the Taiwan question, in a bid to portray China as an aggressor.

But the true parallel to be drawn is their gun-boating intention to trigger a similar crisis in the region in the hope it will debilitate China.

The region should beware the designs of both Tokyo and NATO.