EDITORIAL: Ishiba should seek diplomacy amid deterrence in foreign policy
In his first trip abroad as prime minister, Shigeru Ishiba visited Laos from Oct. 10 through 11 to attend ASEAN-related summit meetings.
Ishiba, who was sworn in on Oct. 1, also held bilateral summit talks with Li Qiang, Chinese premier, Yoon Suk-yeol, South Korea’s president, and other leaders on the occasion.
Ishiba rightly chose not to mention his belief that there should be an Asian version of NATO, an argument that could sow division, and thereby heighten tensions in the region.
Ishiba made it clear that he will follow the foreign policy line of the previous administration of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and said that Japan and ASEAN will work together, as “trusted partners” with “heart-to-heart connections,” to maintain and strengthen a free and open international order based on the rule of law.
In the face of China, which condones using force to change the status quo, the former Kishida administration took measures to “fundamentally reinforce” Japan’s defense........
© The Asahi Shimbun
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