TOKYO/BRUSSELS -- The North Atlantic Treaty Organization will deepen collaboration with its four major partners in the Indo-Pacific region, simultaneously preparing bilateral cooperation documents with Australia, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea, Nikkei Asia has learned.

The four countries, collectively known as the Asian-Pacific partners (AP4), are currently tagged as "partners across the globe" by NATO.

The alliance will formulate what is known as an Individually Tailored Partnership Program (ITPP) with all four -- an upgrade to a higher form of partnership. With the documents serving as a road map, the partners will explore collaboration on issues such as cybersecurity, space and fighting disinformation.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has proposed opening a NATO liaison office in Tokyo next year, but the idea has faced opposition from France, which fears it sends the wrong message to China, and that it may also raise concerns among members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

Together with Japan, four nations will have tailored partnership programs

One idea floated among NATO members is to characterize the proposed office as a facility for smooth implementation of the four ITPPs. The opening of a liaison office requires the consent of all members, and it is hoped this approach would win over France.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins are expected to attend the forthcoming NATO summit in Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, on July 11 and 12.

This will be the second consecutive year all four AP4 leaders have attended, signaling deeper ties between NATO and the Indo-Pacific.

A Japanese Foreign Ministry official said it is "not yet clear" whether Japan's ITPP will be finalized by the summit. NATO sources say Australia's negotiations are the most advanced, with South Korea and New Zealand still in earlier stages.

In its Strategic Concept issued last year -- a document that outlines the alliance's purpose, nature, challenges and strategy -- NATO detailed the threat China poses for the first time.

Beijing's stated ambitions and coercive policies "challenge our interests, security and values," the document said.

Specifically, NATO said China's projection of power, military buildup, malicious hybrid and cyber operations and its confrontational rhetoric and disinformation "target allies and harm alliance security."

NATO also raised concern about the strategic partnership between China and Russia, and how the two have attempted to undercut the rules-based international order.

READ MORE

• New Zealand’s military chief talks recruitment, drones and Ukraine
• Australia to assist NZ Army recovery under Plan ANZAC
• NZDF's support continues as part of international efforts to deliver aid to Ukraine
• Andrew Little tells nuclear powers New Zealand's stance isn't just 'wishful thinking'

While the alliance has traditionally focused on the North Atlantic sphere, the new thinking is that modern threats transcend geographic regions and are global.

"There is a clear interest from all allies that we should strengthen the relationship with the four partners in this region [to better understand the threat China poses]," a European ambassador in Tokyo told Nikkei Asia.

After the ITPPs are finalized, "the next logical step will be to have a liaison office in Japan," the ambassador said.

The Japanese side is keen to have the NATO office. Sources told Nikkei that Kishida raised the issue with French President Emmanuel Macron when the two met for 35 minutes in Hiroshima on May 19, on the sidelines of the Group of Seven summit.

Japanese ministers also brought it up in a two-plus-two meeting between ministers of foreign affairs and defense on May 9, which was held online ahead of the G7.

NATO maintains liaison offices at the United Nations in New York, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe in Vienna, as well as in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Kuwait, Moldova, Serbia and Ukraine.

Lt. Gen. Francesco Diella, director of NATO's Cooperative Security Division, has been visiting the AP4 countries to discuss the ITPPs.

In February, Diella visited South Korea to meet with military representatives. The following month, Diella traveled to Australia and New Zealand to meet with senior military and political representatives.

The Australian and New Zealand ITPPs "will address crosscutting security issues of global concern -- including maritime security, new technologies, cyberspace, the impact of climate change on security and resilience -- through tailored political and military consultations, joint training and exercises, and cooperation in NATO-led operations and missions," a news release said.

Finally, Diella visited Japan in May, where similar consultations took place.

In an interview with Nikkei, Philippe Setton, France's ambassador to Tokyo, questioned whether a one-person liaison office would be an upgrade to the current "NATO point of contact" role Denmark's embassy in Japan plays. Currently, four staff at the Danish Embassy handle NATO affairs.

"Basically, we are talking about one person with a computer," Setton said.

Instead of "sending the wrong messages to China and partners in Asia who do not want to have to take sides," Setton said it would be better to focus on the ITPP.

Other members are likely to link the ITPPs with the functions of the liaison office to win approval from Paris.