TOKYO: Nato will set up a liaison office in Tokyo in 2024 and use it as a hub for co-operation with Australia, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea, the Nikkei newspaper said on Tuesday, a plan China has described as unwelcome.

In May, Japan’s ambassador to the United States said the US-led military alliance was planning a Tokyo office, the first in Asia, to ease regional consultations, but French President Emmanuel Macron objected to the plan.

At the time, China said the Asia-Pacific did not welcome what it called “group confrontation”, urging Japan to be “extra cautious on the issue of military security” given its “history of aggression”.

The Nikkei said Nato would deepen ties with its four major partners in the Pacific, preparing two-way cooperation documents with each, to form a basis for collaboration on issues such as cybersecurity and space.

On a visit to Japan in January, Nato chief Jens Stoltenberg pledged with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to strengthen ties in the face of “historic” security challenges, citing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and China’s rising military power.

“Australia will have further updates on its partnership arrangements in due course,” a spokesperson for the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said.

“All Nato partners are transitioning to the new Individually Tailored Partnership Programme process once their existing partnership arrangements are due for renewal,” the spokesperson said in a statement.

Published in Dawn, June 14th, 2023