Purpose of Strengthening China's Deterrence Capability
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is planning to establish a liaison office in Japan and pursue new cooperation plans with four Pacific countries: South Korea, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand.
On the 13th, Nihon Keizai Shimbun (Nikkei) reported that NATO intends to strengthen deterrence against China and enhance cooperation in areas such as cybersecurity, space, and countering disinformation together with these four countries. They plan to push for the establishment of a liaison office in Tokyo next year.
NATO plans to upgrade the existing "Individual Partnership Cooperation Program" (IPCP) signed with each of these four countries to a new framework called the "Individual Tailored Partnership Plan" (ITPP).
NATO has already designated these four countries as important partners in the Indo-Pacific region and has invited them to summits and foreign ministers' meetings. Notably, in 2007, NATO signed a security of classified information agreement with Australia and has maintained high-level regular consultations with South Korea.
Jens Stoltenberg, Secretary General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). [Image source=Yonhap News]
However, under the new framework, the four countries will not be incorporated into NATO's collective defense system, but will seek to expand cooperation in a wide range of areas such as information sharing.
A NATO official told Nikkei, "There is a common understanding within NATO that strengthening cooperation with the four countries is indispensable to understanding the nature of new threats."
However, the newspaper also reported that there are some differences of opinion among NATO member states, so it may take time to finalize the ITPP.
In fact, France has shown a positive response to strengthening cooperation with the four countries but is reportedly opposed to the establishment of the Tokyo office.
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