Albanese pours cold water on Japanese PM's vision for an ‘Asian NATO’
Japan’s new prime minister has spent the ASEAN summit playing down his signature security plan — an 'Asian NATO' — after finding few friends of the idea in Laos.
Vientiane: Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has poured cold water on calls for an ‘Asian NATO’ to counter China, just hours before meeting new Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, the idea's main supporter.
Speaking to reporters at the ASEAN summit in Laos on Friday, Albanese said the idea “hasn't been raised at all” during the two-day leaders meetings.
Ishiba has spent the summit, his first international trip since taking office this month, playing down his signature security idea after receiving pushback from Japan’s key partners in the region.
ASEAN’s ten member states are sceptical of the proposal, and its critics fear it could provoke China to escalate its aggression in the region — potentially including an invasion of Taiwan.
