Macron opposes!, NATO wants to establish this institution in Japan | NATO | Macron
According to sources cited by the Financial Times on the 5th, French President Macron opposed NATO's plan to establish a liaison office in Tokyo, Japan. Macron believes that NATO should continue to focus on the North Atlantic region.
The report states that the establishment of a NATO liaison office requires unanimous support from the NATO Council, which means France has the right to prevent this move.
According to reports, Macron stated at a meeting last week that NATO should not expand its scope beyond the North Atlantic, and added that if we push for NATO to expand its geographical scope, "we will make a big mistake.".
Eight insiders revealed that due to opposition from France, discussions within NATO over the establishment of the first "outpost" in the Indo Pacific region have become more complicated in recent months.
A French official stated that the French side believes that the NATO Charter requires the alliance to limit its geographical scope to the North Atlantic. A person familiar with the internal debate within NATO also stated that France is unwilling to support anything that could lead to "tension between NATO and China.".
The report stated that NATO refused to disclose details of the "ongoing discussions".
Previously, it was reported that Japanese Foreign Minister Lin Fangzheng and NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg confirmed in a media interview that the two sides are in talks about NATO's establishment of a liaison office in Japan. In addition, it is reported that Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida may hold talks with NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg at the NATO summit in July to discuss plans to establish a liaison office.
China has responded multiple times to the establishment of a liaison office for NATO Japan negotiations. On May 26th, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning presided over a regular press conference and stated that China has always believed that the development of relations between countries should be conducive to world peace and stability, and should not target or harm the interests of third parties.
Mao Ning pointed out that the Asia Pacific region is not within the geographical scope of the North Atlantic, and NATO's eastward expansion into the Asia Pacific will inevitably undermine regional peace and stability. Regional countries and people are highly vigilant about this and firmly oppose any words or actions that introduce military groups or provoke separatist confrontation. Japan should learn from historical lessons, adhere to the path of peaceful development, and refrain from doing anything that undermines mutual trust between regional countries and undermines regional peace and stability.