On Friday, Japan and the European Union announced a new security partnership, which includes joint military drills, senior-level dialogue, and defense industry cooperation.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell met with his Japanese counterpart Takeshi Iwaya, who highlighted the challenging security environment both regions face.
While China was not explicitly mentioned, Japan has previously identified its neighbor as its greatest security challenge due to Beijing’s military buildup. Following the talks in Tokyo, Borrell will head to South Korea to address concerns about North Korea.
The United States has reported that thousands of North Korean troops are in Russia, preparing to fight in Ukraine. Additionally, North Korea test-fired one of its newest and most powerful missiles on Thursday, showcasing its threat to the US mainland just days before the elections.
The security of the Asia-Pacific region is “inseparable from that of Europe and the Atlantic”, Iwaya added.
Japan is ramping up defence spending to the NATO standard of two percent of GDP by 2027, partly to counter China, which is increasing military pressure on Taiwan.
Beijing claims the self-ruled island as part of its territory and has not ruled out using force to bring it under its control.
Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, who could head a minority government after a disastrous general election last week, has said that “today’s Ukraine could be tomorrow’s East Asia”.
Ishiba has also called for the creation of a NATO-like regional alliance with its tenet of collective security, although he has conceded this will “not happen overnight”.
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