Japanese FM refuses to comment on Macron's position on NATO office in Tokyo

Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi refused to comment on the information published by the British newspaper Financial Times saying that French President Emmanuel Macron opposed plans to open a NATO office in Tokyo.

The foreign minister said he is aware of the reports but intends to refrain from giving his views on the matter, according to TASS.

Hayashi stressed that the issue of opening a liaison office of the North Atlantic Alliance in Japan is currently being considered inside NATO structures.

Earlier, the Financial Times reported that President Emmanuel Macron does not approve of NATO plans to open an office in Japan, as he believes that the alliance should focus on the North Atlantic region.

According to the newspaper's eight interlocutors, Paris' position complicates ongoing negotiations to open NATO's first representative office in the Indo-Pacific region (ITR). France believes that such intentions could complicate European relations with China.

French President Emmanuel Macron has objected to a NATO proposal to open an office in Tokyo because he believes the transatlantic security alliance should remain focused on its own North Atlantic region.

The resistance from France has complicated months of discussion within NATO to create the alliance’s first outpost in the Indo-Pacific region, according to eight people familiar with the situation.

The push to open a small office in Tokyo comes as the US and Japan urge Europe to become more involved in Asia security issues, particularly as concern mounts about possible Chinese military action against Taiwan.

But the decision has coincided with Beijing slamming US efforts to create what it describes as anti-China coalitions in the Indo-Pacific, which it compares to an “Asian NATO”.

One French official said Paris believed NATO’s charter required the alliance to limit its geographic reach to the “North Atlantic”. But the official also suggested it could undermine European credibility with China in regard to the war in Ukraine, particularly in terms of asking Beijing not to supply arms to Russia.

One of the people familiar with the debate inside NATO said France was reluctant to back anything “that contributes to NATO-China tension”.

Speaking at a conference last week, Macron said NATO should not expand its reach beyond the North Atlantic and added: “If . . . we push NATO to enlarge the spectrum and the geography, we will make a big mistake.”

Macron’s resistance comes two months after he angered the US and other allies by suggesting, during a visit to China, that Europe should distance itself from US-China tensions over Taiwan.

Setting up a NATO office requires unanimous support from the North Atlantic Council, the transatlantic alliance’s highest political decision-making body, which means France has the power to stop the move. NATO declined to give details about “ongoing deliberations”.