Japan's New PM Shigeru Ishiba Backs Off Asian NATO Proposal

Shigeru Ishiba, Japan's newly appointed prime minister, has not instructed his defense ministry to pursue an Asian NATO-style collective defense organization. Defence Minister Gen Nakatani confirmed this, following Ishiba’s earlier campaign suggestion. The U.S. criticized the proposal as premature.

Japan's new prime minister, Shigeru Ishiba, has decided against advancing a proposal for an Asian counterpart to the NATO collective defense organization. This was confirmed by the new defense minister, Gen Nakatani, on Wednesday.

"In his instructions yesterday, the Prime Minister did not mention any consideration of an Asian version of NATO," Nakatani stated in his initial press conference after being appointed by Ishiba.

Ishiba, confirmed as prime minister on Tuesday, suggested the proposal ahead of his victory in the ruling LDP leadership election on Friday. He argued that a NATO-like alliance involving the U.S. and other allies could help deter China's military ambitions. However, the U.S. has dismissed the idea as "hasty".

(With inputs from agencies.)