Ishiba: Asian NATO Must Consider Introduction of N-Weapons, Japan-U.S. Treaty Should Be Pact Between ‘Ordinary Nations’

The Yomiuri Shimbun

14:21 JST, September 29, 2024

Liberal Democratic Party President Shigeru Ishiba said “the creation of an Asian version of NATO is essential to deter China by its Western allies” in an article he contributed to the Hudson Institute, a think tank based in Washington, D.C.

To deter the nuclear threat from Russia, North Korea and China, the envisioned body “must also specifically consider America’s sharing of nuclear weapons or the introduction of nuclear weapons into the region,” Ishiba wrote.

Titled “The Future of Japan’s Foreign Policy,” the article was posted on the think tank’s website on Friday, U.S. time. Regarding the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty, Ishiba said, “It is my mission to raise the Japan-U.S. alliance to the level of the U.S.-U.K. alliance.”

“The conditions are ripe to revise the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty into a treaty between ‘ordinary countries,’” he wrote.