Japan's Ishiba Keen on Asian Version of NATO

Tokyo, Dec. 10 (Jiji Press)--Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Tuesday again voiced his eagerness to establish an Asian version of NATO.

The deterrence provided by the United States has relatively weakened, Ishiba said of the East Asian security environment at a meeting of the Budget Committee of the House of Representatives, the lower chamber of Japan's parliament.

"How we maintain the balance of power (in the region) is an obvious question we should be asking when thinking about military affairs," he said.

While admitting that there are constitutional interpretation issues over collective defense, Ishiba stated, "Deciding from the very start that (collective defense) shouldn't be allowed is just giving up thinking."

On the recently adopted economic package, Ishiba said that the central government will facilitate moves to reflect rising prices and labor costs in public procurement contracts between local governments and companies.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]