Shigeru Ishiba, center, one of the candidates vying to be the next Japanese prime minister, holds a press conference at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan in Tokyo on Sept. 6, 2024. (Kyodo)
TOKYO (Kyodo) — Shigeru Ishiba, one of the candidates to become Japanese prime minister, on Friday underscored the need for East Asia to have a collective security framework similar to NATO, describing the current lack of one as “problematic.”
Ishiba, a former defense minister running for the fifth time to become president of the Liberal Democratic Party, cited the ongoing situation facing Ukraine as it tries to counter Russia’s invasion as he apparently referred to heightened tensions in the Taiwan Strait.
“The United States not coming to the defense of Ukraine because it is not a NATO member is truly frightening. It’s also extremely problematic that we do not have a collective security system in place here in East Asia,” Ishiba, 67, said at a press conference. “I will do my utmost to establish one.”
Under the collective security arrangement, an attack on one NATO member is treated as an attack on others. Japan, for its part, has been vigilant against China, which has been stepping up its military activity in the East China Sea.
“We hear people draw a parallel between what is happening today in Ukraine and what may happen in Northeast Asia tomorrow. Why didn’t deterrence work in Ukraine?” Ishiba said.
“If we replace Russia with China and Ukraine with Taiwan, this is an extremely important issue for Japan to examine,” he said.
Ishiba is one of the favorites to become the next Japanese leader in media polls. He is well-versed in defense, agriculture and regional revitalization, having assumed key Cabinet posts.
He is calling for a revision to Japan’s Constitution to explicitly state the status of the Self-Defense Forces, a source of contention in Japan over whether they are constitutional.
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Publish date : 2024-09-06 14:00:00
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