NATO to defer decision on Tokyo liaison office

NATO is poised to defer its decision on establishing a liaison office in Tokyo until autumn or later, Nikkei has learned.

The North Atlantic military alliance initially planned to enshrine the establishment of the Tokyo office in documents to be adopted at NATO's two-day summit beginning on July 11 in Lithuania, Nikkei reports.

But France has opposed the idea, caring for relations with China, and the unanimous agreement of all 31 members needed for the decision appears unlikely. The bloc will work to finalize the decision by the year-end.

The proposal for the Tokyo office was spearheaded by NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg. The US-led alliance wants to have a liaison site in Japan -- NATO's partner in Asia -- and deepen security cooperation with democratic countries in the Asia-Pacific region, such as South Korea, Australia and New Zealand.

Some NATO leaders including Stoltenberg and US President Joe Biden regard countering China -- which is seen as strengthening its military by deepening ties with Russia -- as crucial for their security. In newer areas of security such as cyberwarfare and disinformation, China could threaten the US and Europe.

Such concerns are pushing NATO to enhance cooperation with US allies Japan and South Korea. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol will attend the NATO summit this week.

Some member states, such as France, though, value economic ties with China and do not want to provoke the country of 1.4 billion consumers. President Emmanuel Macron, accompanied by a number of French business leaders, visited China in April to meet President Xi Jinping. The unusually warm reception allowed the European country to advance business deals, including a large order for Airbus Europe.

China is fiercely opposed to the idea of NATO establishing a Tokyo office and might have stepped up its outreach to France and other member states involved.

A source close to the French presidential office told reporters on Friday it would be inappropriate for the bloc -- the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, created to provide collective defence in Europe and North America -- to open an office in the Indo-Pacific region.

"President Macron was particularly offended by the idea of setting up an office without France," said a diplomatic source involved in negotiations with the NATO secretariat. The French leader is known to advocate "strategic autonomy" in security and economic areas, leveraging France's position as a nuclear power in Europe; this advocacy could have affected its stance against the US-led initiative of setting up the Tokyo office.

Some argue that Macron looks to China for its role in future cease-fire negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, and therefore prefers to avoid provoking Beijing with a NATO office in Tokyo.

The summit in the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius has a busy agenda, including negotiations for Sweden to join NATO, the creation of a framework for long-term support for Ukraine and a one-year extension of Stoltenberg's term.

According to sources close to the negotiations, the Tokyo office is a "lower priority" agenda item, thus coordination regarding the office is likely to be postponed until autumn or later.

Nevertheless, France and other member states share an emphasis on the Asia-Pacific region. In this regard, one defence minister of an eastern European member state summed up talk they have heard by saying, "As NATO, a presence in Asia is essential, and Japan is the only candidate for a location."