Ukraine: Japan’s Kishida says invasion may lead world to greatest post-war crisis
- Prime Minister Fumio Kishida says Russia’s attack has shaken international order; Japan will not rule out options to strengthen defence capabilities
- ‘Unilateral change of the status quo by force must never be allowed in the Indo-Pacific, especially in East Asia’, he tells National Defence Academy
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine threatens to shake the very foundation of international order and could potentially lead the world to “the greatest crisis” since World War II, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said on Sunday.
Japan would not rule out any options to fundamentally strengthen its defence capabilities, as the government aims to revise the National Security Strategy, a long-term guideline, by the end of the year, and two other key documents on its defence build-up, Kishida said in a speech at a graduation ceremony of the National Defence Academy.
Japan is resolved to support Ukraine as its actions, along with other countries, will determine the future state of the international community, as Russia’s attacks on the Eastern European country drag on, he said.
Russia’s unilateral attack on Ukraine could embolden China to attack Taiwan, which Beijing views as a renegade province awaiting reunification by force if necessary, diplomatic and defence experts say.
“A unilateral change of the status quo by force must never be allowed in the Indo-Pacific, especially in East Asia,” the premier said at the ceremony in Yokosuka, southwest of Tokyo.
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Heightened tensions in Taiwan amid Russian invasion of Ukraine
“The security environment surrounding our country is becoming markedly more serious” given increasingly bold attempts by China in recent years to unilaterally change the status quo in the East and South China seas, as well as successive ballistic missile launches by North Korea, Kishida said.
He stressed the importance of strengthening cooperation between the Self-Defence Forces and the Japan Coast Guard, as China asserts sovereignty over the Diaoyu Islands, a group of uninhabited islets in the East China Sea claimed by mainland China, Taiwan and Japan, and administrated by Japan. Japan calls them the Senkaku Islands.
At Sunday’s ceremony, Defence Minister Nobuo Kishi said “anyone can see that the area around Japan and the world are entering turbulent times”.
