visit intentions
- Stoltenberg did not hide his intentions to visit at this time. He stated that the visit comes to address China’s attempts to expand its influence in a region he described as “important to Europe”, and that NATO is in the process of conducting military and defense agreements that increase cooperation with Japanese forces.
- And Japan’s concern about China, as well as Russia and North Korea, has led to a historic increase in the defense budget, which has not occurred since the end of World War II.
successive military agreements
Washington and the European Union are taking advantage of the tension between Tokyo and Beijing to strengthen its military presence in the region, especially after China’s military moves around the Senkaku Islands, which are disputed by both countries.
Among the most prominent recent agreements signed with Tokyo:
• British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and his Japanese counterpart, Fumio Kishida, signed a mutual access agreement that brings their two militaries closer.
• Japan said that this alliance comes to confront China, describing it as an “unprecedented strategic challenge.”
• Tokyo also signed defense agreements with the United States, according to which Washington places about 47 thousand soldiers on Japanese soil, and pledged to provide advanced arms deals.
Beijing vows
China and Japan are trading partners, but relations deteriorated recently after Tokyo announced that it was affected by China’s military moves around the Senkaku Islands, as well as its anger at its lack of control over North Korea’s nuclear tests.
For its part, China resents the great rapprochement between NATO, Japan and South Korea, especially with Japan’s announcement of increasing the defense budget.
Beijing considered these steps an attempt to extend NATO’s influence in the region, and besiege China politically and economically.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin commented:
- America and Japan claim that they are defending a free and open Indo-Pacific region, but what is happening is the establishment of different exclusionary blocs to create division and confrontation.
- They claim to support the rules-based international order, but what they are doing is trampling on international law.
- The Asia-Pacific region is an anchor of peace and development, not an arena of geopolitical competition.
- We urge America and Japan to abandon their Cold War mentality and ideological bias, and stop creating imaginary enemies.
upcoming scenarios
For his part, the expert in international affairs, Jasser Matar, explains these recent moves by all parties as efforts to impose military influence amid the continuing tension between them against the backdrop of the ruined Ukraine and the Taiwan crisis.
Analyzing the position of each party, he says:
- Western countries believe that China now possesses significant military capabilities and is always working to develop its military system.
- America and Europe are taking advantage of the old enmity between Japan and China and trying to play in their favor. What NATO is doing in the region will accelerate China’s invasion of Taiwan, and this may create greater tension in the region.
- China wants to send a message that it will not be like Russia in its war with Ukraine.
- China is expected to increase its military presence in the region and conduct more maneuvers.
- China has recently used a huge military bloc in its maneuvers, and this has also aroused fear in the West.
- Any change in the existing military situation in the region will anger China.
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