February 13th 2002
Defense Agency chief Gen Nakatani on Wednesday recommended creating a comprehensive defense mechanism encompassing a large number of nations including Japan, China and Russia.
‘Cooperation (among nations in the same region) to secure collective safety is the trend of the world,’ Nakatani said in a lecture meeting at a Tokyo hotel on the security of the Asia-Pacific region.
‘To this end, it is necessary to build a security mechanism comprising all of Asia, joined by China, South and North Koreas, Russia and the United States,’ he said.
‘I think Japan, for one, should do its utmost to try to enlist support (from the nations concerned for the mechanism),’ Nakatani said, indicating Japan should try to take the initiative in setting up in Asia something like the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
Since Nakatani hopes to attend an international conference in Singapore hosted by the International Institute for Strategic Studies in June, he may propose this idea at the conference, some defense experts said.
