Ishiba opts for pragmatic diplomacy; no talk of Asian NATO

deanzaZZRToday 01:05 am JST

The country adding pressure to the region is and has since the end of WW2 been an outsider, the USA.

That's fascinating considering the US presence is smaller than it was 70 years ago. You just cry every night that you can't have it all!!!

The "hegemonic moment" as some like to say lasted from the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991 to the financial crisis of 2008 when the Chinese stepped up to the plate to support the international financial system (especially in Asia) when the USA balked,

China acted in its own interests only.

The countries of ASEAN have found peace since the withdrawal of USA aggressor troops from the Southeast Asia area in the 1970s. I am fully confident that the East Asia region which includes Japan, Korea, Mongolia and China, with a long tradition of statecraft, can forge a peaceful and prosperous new era signaled by the withdrawal of the 7th Fleet from the Port of Yokosuka.

So SE Asia's prosperity depends on Japan doing something. Fascinating.

OKuniyoshiOct. 12 07:44 pm JST

Before that person response, Taiwan is not a country, according to the UN.

It's a country in every way that matters. I'm sorry that upsets you.

I don't think this is of any business of any Americans here. East and SE Asian countries need to cooperate and work together instead of taking orders from a hegemonic colonial country from the other side of the Pacific.

Both condescending and hypocritical. ASEAN is not taking orders from anyone. Just like every other government in the free world, they are smart enough to see the benefits of the U.S. led alliance in the Indo-Pacific and know that it is better than siding with a shaky group of dictators. They know what is best for their people and they don’t need some western hypocrite to explain to them what they “need to” do.

Pukey2Oct. 12 08:45 pm JST

I don't think this is of any business of any Americans here. East and SE Asian countries need to cooperate and work together instead of taking orders from a hegemonic colonial country from the other side of the Pacific.

And instead take orders from the local hegemon? I doubt they will sign up for that.

Without the United States, the Philippines and other countries would have been swallowed up by China already. China's method is to send large numbers of Chinese people to other countries, seize administrative power, and encourage rebellion and independence.

This method has led to the encroachment of territory near the Russian border, Myanmar, Tibet, and eastern Turkmenistan.

Thanks to Japan, Asian countries were liberated from Western colonies,

but China has never contributed to peace in Asia in history.

Kukrit Pramoj, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Thailand, said, "Thanks to Japan, all Asian countries have become independent. Mother Japan suffered a difficult birth and was injured (Japan's defeat in the war), but her baby is growing up healthy.

To whom do we owe it that the peoples of Southeast Asia can talk on an equal footing with the United States and Britain today? It is because of Mother Japan, who sacrificed herself to be benevolent. We must never forget December 8, 1941 (the day the war began), when Mother Japan, who showed us this important idea, made a great decision at the risk of her own life."

Please don't let/don't make any country here become Ukraine, Nato expansion?? Before that person response, Taiwan is not a country, according to the UN.

Taiwan decides if it is a country, the UN is not a country and does net get to decide who is or is not a country.

Happy for NATO to expand into our region, or for an Asian version to come into existence.

No country alone, except maybe the US, can stand alone against China and win. China knows this and so does everyone else. To protect yourself against the bully China you need alliances. China will do all it can to dissuade alliances to make its life of getting things its own way more likely and easier.

China versus Japan and China wins.

China versus Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Philippines, Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam and more and the situation is not so simple and the outcome not certain to fall China's way. China understands the danger in that. The danger to stop Chinese ambitions of empire.

The country adding pressure to the region is and has since the end of WW2 been an outsider, the USA.

A blatantly false statement. Its a wonder anyone would print such rubbish. It is clear to everyone who lives in the region that China is the agitator, the bully trying to muscle its way to dominance over all regional nations. From incursions into the waters of Japan, Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Taiwan and more. The US is invited in while China is asked to stay out but refuses to.

There are no nations joining or making alliances against the US in the region but there are to deal with Chinese belligerence and that tells the facts of the situation.

Asian NATO if it ever happens, will stifle Chinese ambitions of domination. That cant come soon enough.

The idea is ahead of it's time. If China changes it's path in Asia, and Russia in Europe, perhaps it won't be necessary. But if they don't, it is inevitable that a collective defense agreement will arise in Asia in the future.

If the Chinese Communist Party is against it, we should definitely establish one.

Most territorial disputes in Asia involve China.

Other than China, there is no other country that poses a threat to ASEAN countries, Japan, or Taiwan.

Ishiba is a coward. He is nowhere near Prime Minister Abe.

Quote: "A blatantly false statement. It's a wonder anyone would print such rubbish." It is within the possibility until it is yours. Then the costs and anxieties begin. The costs and the anxieties. Both more of overruns than anyone anticipated.

Ever wanted a Rolls Royce? You could likely buy one. But the cost overruns would be horrendous. Thus, analogous with nations.

Ishiba is a coward.

I wouldn't say that. The head of state, for the first time in many years, said out loud that America bombed Japan with nukes. Who was the last person in Japan before Ishiba to condemn the United States for the nuking? This is a very brave act in the current relations between Japan and the United States.

What we need in E Asia/Asia are trade/economics alliances. Not military alliances. Leave them in Europe/America, leave the wars/conflicts there too. Please don't let/don't make any country here become Ukraine, Nato expansion?? Before that person response, Taiwan is not a country, according to the UN.

That's nice, I guess. Not like anyone at the meeting would take such a proposal as being serious. Well done PM Ishiba for reading the room or something.

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba opted for a pragmatic approach in his diplomatic debut on his visit to Laos that ended Friday, avoiding any mention of his controversial proposal to create a NATO-like security alliance in Asia

I don't think this is of any business of any Americans here. East and SE Asian countries need to cooperate and work together instead of taking orders from a hegemonic colonial country from the other side of the Pacific.

That Asian NATO is a pathetic and desperate effort from US trying to stop economic China's unstoppable progress..

Global South is rising little by little, growing BRICS are future of a free world, a world where western circUS must adapt or finish to sink itself..

The country adding pressure to the region is and has since the end of WW2 been an outsider, the USA. The "hegemonic moment" as some like to say lasted from the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991 to the financial crisis of 2008 when the Chinese stepped up to the plate to support the international financial system (especially in Asia) when the USA balked,

The countries of ASEAN have found peace since the withdrawal of USA aggressor troops from the Southeast Asia area in the 1970s. I am fully confident that the East Asia region which includes Japan, Korea, Mongolia and China, with a long tradition of statecraft, can forge a peaceful and prosperous new era signaled by the withdrawal of the 7th Fleet from the Port of Yokosuka.

 If China changes it's path in Asia