Ishiba: Amid Great-Power Rivalry Japan Should Rally “Middle Powers” in Asia and Europe; Tough Talk Alone Is Not the National Interest
Former Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said at a symposium on Japan-U.S. relations in Tokyo on November 14 that, amid a diplomatic current dominated by great-power rivalry among the United States, China and Russia, it is important for Japan, while maintaining its ties with the United States, to rally cooperation with “middle power” countries in Asia, Europe and elsewhere.
“Does saying brave things and simple, easy-to-understand things really serve the national interest? I do not necessarily think so. How to bring the middle powers together is something we have to think about,” Ishiba said. The symposium marked the opening of the International Future Society Institute, directed by Meikai University professor Tetsuo Kotani, and Ishiba spoke on the future of Japan-U.S. relations and Japan's defense posture.
Looking ahead to the planned year-end revision of Japan's three national security documents, Ishiba said there was much tough talk, including arguments that Japan should possess nuclear weapons, but warned that “diplomacy that cares only about the present moment is bound to fail.”
Ishiba has continued to speak frequently on foreign and security policy since leaving office. Two days earlier he appeared alongside former Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda on a television program criticizing Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, as GSM has reported.
(Source: Nippon TV)
Source: Nippon TV
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：石破茂2025年访问马尼拉时与菲律宾总统马科斯会面资料图。照片：菲律宾信息局，公共领域，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: File photo of Shigeru Ishiba meeting Philippine President Bongbong Marcos in Manila in 2025. Photo by the Philippine Information Agency, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
