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Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will join NATO leaders in Lithuania on Tuesday to remind an alliance focused on Ukraine to pay heed to Chinese and Russian activity in Asia, which Japan sees as a threat to global security.

Kishida’s second visit to a North Atlantic Treaty Organization gathering, along with the leaders of South Korea, Australia and New Zealand, comes as Japan doubles defence spending to deter Chinese and Russian forces in the waters and skies around Japan.

With Japan feeling it can no longer solely rely on its old ally the U.S. to back it up, Kishida is also courting new security partners.

"Japan talks about principles such as territorial integrity, but the message to Europe is 'don’t forget about the Indo-Pacific, no matter how difficult the situation with Russia is'," said Michito Tsuruoka, a NATO expert at Keio University.

In its most recent annual national security assessment, Japan said it was surrounded by nuclear-armed actors, including China, North Korea and Russia, which is also a neighbour to six NATO members. Tokyo worries about getting sucked into a conflict over Taiwan, which is only 100 km (62 miles) away.

Kishida, who has embraced the U.S. rhetoric of "like-minded nations" sticking together, has for the past year warned that a Ukraine-like conflict, which Russia describes as a special operation, could erupt in East Asia if China tries to take control of self-ruled Taiwan. China has criticised Japan for a "Cold War mentality".

By working with NATO, Japan could also help the U.S. knit its global alliances together, "breaking down the traditional silos between America's Atlantic allies and America's Pacific allies", the U.S. ambassador to NATO, Julianne Smith, told a media briefing. 

"We find ourselves coming together to address a whole range of options," she said.

'BIG MISTAKE'

At the meeting in Lithuania's capital, Vilnius, Japan is expected to be included in NATO's Individually Tailored Partnership Program, opening the way for cooperation on cyber security, space and information sharing on China and Russia.

That initiative follows a visit to Japan by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in January when he said the lessons China was learning from Ukraine could influence its decisions.

NATO documents have begun to reflect concern about China, East Asia and the Indo-Pacific, but Japan needs to deepen its awareness of those issues, a Japanese official involved in discussions about NATO ties said.

However, the military alliance is unlikely to agree to open an office in Tokyo in the face of French President Emmanuel Macron's opposition to a move that could irritate China and open NATO up to accusations of geographical overreach.

"If we push NATO's presence in the Indo-Pacific area and expand its reach, we will be making a big mistake," a French foreign ministry spokesperson said.

Diplomats from two European NATO countries who spoke to Reuters said European unease about a Tokyo office went beyond France. They declined to be identified.

Another Japanese official involved in preparations for Kishida's NATO visit said the idea of a NATO office in Japan had nothing to do with China, but that is how it became framed, and each NATO country has its own relations with China.

Japan, he added, would continue communicating with NATO through its embassy in Brussels or via the Danish embassy in Tokyo, the contact point in Japan for dealings with the military alliance.

SEOUL AND SYDNEY

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, who will also attend the NATO summit, is also looking to deepen relations in Europe including new defence deals with countries like Poland.

Under Yoon, South Korea has set up a liaison office with NATO in Brussels and has embraced a call for unity among like-minded countries. He may, however, face renewed pressure to provide weapons to Ukraine, which his administration has declined to do, wary of Russian influence over North Korea.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, another member of Asia Pacific Four invited to the NATO gathering, said Australia would maintain support for Ukraine, when asked about new financial aid for it.

"We’ll continue to stand with the people of Ukraine," Albanese told Sky News. (Reuters)

The Philippine military on Friday reported an "alarming" increase in the number of Chinese fishing vessels in disputed waters in the South China Sea, which it said threatens the security of the oil and gas-rich Reed Bank.

From only a dozen in February, the number of Chinese fishing vessels "swarming" in Iroquois reef, just south of the Reed Bank, has risen to 47 as of last month, according to the military's Western Command (WESCOM).

"China must cease its swarming of vessels to respect our sovereign rights," Ariel Coloma, spokesperson for the Western Command, said in a statement.

The Philippines won a landmark arbitration case in 2016 that invalidated China's expansive claims in the South China Sea, where about $3 trillion worth of sea-borne goods pass every year.

The ruling, which treaty ally United States backs and China refuses to recognise, clarified Philippine sovereign rights in its 200-mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ) to access offshore oil and gas fields, including the Reed Bank, where a natural gas exploration project operated by Philippine firm PXP Energy Corp has been stalled.

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told his Philippine counterpart, Gilbert Teodoro, on Thursday that the U.S. commitment to the defense of its ally was "ironclad," including in the South China Sea, according to a U.S. summary of the call, drawing a rebuke from China.

"The U.S. defence commitment to the Philippines must not undermine China's territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests in the South China Sea," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin told a regular press conference.

Wang accused the United States of "sowing discord" between countries in the region, while maintaining the actions of the Chinese Coast Guard were legitimate and lawful, and therefore "beyond reproach".

Wang was not asked about the "swarming," and there was no immediate comment from the Chinese embassy in Manila about it.

Philippine military said their flights had also recorded the presence of three China Coast Guard ships and two Chinese navy vessels "regularly loitering" at Sabina Shoal, which like Iroquois, is inside the Philippine EEZ.

"These developments raise alarming concerns about China's intentions and actions within these disputed waters," WESCOM said.

The Philippines on Wednesday accused the China Coast Guard of harassment, obstruction and "dangerous manoeuvres" against its vessels, after another incident near a strategic feature of the South China Sea. (Reuters)

China has launched a misinformation campaign that includes news reports Taiwan's president has an "escape plan" in the event of a Chinese invasion, aiming to sap morale as Beijing presses the island to accept its sovereignty, Taiwan officials said.

Taiwan is on high alert for what it sees as China's attempts to sway public opinion on the democratically governed island, including through illicitly funding Beijing-friendly candidates in the run-up to a presidential election next year, according to security reports reviewed by Reuters in June.

Taiwan will later this month hold its most important annual military exercises, known as the Han Kuang drills, that will include for the first time the temporary shutdown of its main international airport in a simulation of repelling enemies, as China ramps up military pressure on the island.

Starting in May, news reports that include misinformation on military activities by Taiwan and its main ally the United States have surfaced in Chinese state media, part of a campaign to sway opinion in Taiwan, according to several Taiwan officials with direct knowledge of the matter.

China's Taiwan Affairs Office did not respond to a request for comment.

At least a dozen of the news reports have said the Han Kuang exercises were in fact an "escape rehearsal" for Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen and evacuation drills for U.S. citizens in the event of a Chinese invasion, said the officials, who declined to be identified due to the sensitivity of the matter.

"They want to portray the Han Kuang exercises into a rehearsal for an escape plan," said one of the officials familiar with Taiwan's security planning, adding that Beijing's aim was to create panic and weaken public trust in Taiwan's leadership.

The de facto U.S. embassy in Taipei declined to comment.

Some of the media reports were first published by online news sites run by China's Taiwan Affairs Office before appearing in media outlets in Taiwan and Hong Kong, according to the officials and a Reuters review of the reports.

The officials said the Chinese campaign was overseen by Beijing's Central Leading Group for Taiwan Affairs, which is chaired by President Xi Jinping, and carried out by various government units including the Taiwan Affairs Office in Beijing.

Taiwan's China policy-making Mainland Affairs Office said in a statement to Reuters that Beijing is always trying to "damage the prestige of our government, divide Taiwanese society and weaken the support of the international community".

"The government will immediately clarify false information, and use specific actions to show its determination to defend itself," it added.

The Taiwan officials also dismissed as "propaganda" at least 10 reports by Chinese and Taiwan news outlets in recent weeks that have said Beijing is capable of destroying an entire U.S. carrier group in the Pacific with 24 ballistic missiles, citing a research paper based on a computer-generated war simulation published by a Chinese university linked to the People's Liberation Army.

Researchers who work closely with security officials in Taiwan have spent weeks trying to verify the report with computer-aided simulations but failed to recreate similar results, the sources said, calling the reports part of "Chinese propaganda" ahead of Taiwan's military exercises.

"They want to sell fear," said one of the sources, a senior official familiar with Taiwan's security planning.

"They want us to give up making preparations and surrender right away." (Reuters)

VOINews, Jakarta - Youth and Sports Minister Dito Ariotedjo has said that the 2023 Organisation of Islamic Cooperation-Cultural Activity (OIC-CA) is expected to become a means of youth diplomacy and sports diplomacy.

Indonesia is hosting the OIC-CA in Jakarta and East Kalimantan from July 7 to 14, 2023.

At a press conference held at the Youth and Sports Ministry's media center here on Friday, Ariotedjo said that Indonesia is aiming to strengthen solidarity among the member countries of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).

"Going forward, we want to strengthen collaboration between Islamic countries in the education sector, entrepreneurship, and also youth development, as well as cooperation in the field of sports," he added.

The minister said that being a host is a great honor and a chance to raise Indonesia's position on the global stage. Indonesia's diverse cultures, mutual respect among its people, and firm unity can be promoted among all participating countries.

"This is an excellent opportunity because Indonesia is one of the countries that have the biggest Muslim population in the world," he added.

On the same occasion, OIC's assistant secretary-general for humanitarian, social, and cultural affairs, Ambassador Tarig Bakheet, lauded Indonesia's continued involvement in supporting OIC activities, including the establishment of the Department of Youth.

He said that Indonesia, as the host, has special significance given that it has the largest Muslim population in the world.

Indonesia could set an example because, despite it being home to diverse cultures, ethnicities, and races, its people can coexist peacefully, he added.

The 2023 OIC-CA features several activities in the form of visits and meetings, which began on Friday in Jakarta and will next be concentrated in East Kalimantan until July 14.  (Antaranews)