Ishiba tells LDP to discuss Asian security issues

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Monday instructed his Liberal Democratic Party to hold discussions on measures to ensure security in the Asian region.

Ishiba, the ruling LDP’s president, apparently had in mind his proposals for revising the Japan-U.S. status of forces pact and creating an Asian version of NATO.

“I want the discussions to proceed in close coordination with the foreign and defense ministries,” he told a meeting at the LDP headquarters with party policy leader Itsunori Onodera, Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya and Defense Minister Gen Nakatani.

Sources said that Ishiba has tasked Nakatani, set to visit Europe from Wednesday to attend a NATO defense ministers’ meeting, with assessing the situations in Italy and Germany, where U.S. forces are stationed.

After the meeting with Onodera and others, Ishiba spoke to reporters about the Chinese military’s large-scale exercises surrounding Taiwan announced Monday.

“Peace and security around Taiwan is an extremely important issue,” Ishiba said. “We’ll closely monitor the situation as we make ourselves ready to respond to any event.”