NHK: Japan Coordinating Summit with S. Korea, Australia, New Zealand on Margins of NATO Summit

Japan is reportedly coordinating a four-way summit with South Korea, Australian and New Zealand on the sidelines of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization(NATO) summit next week.  

Japanese public broadcaster NHK on Thursday cited a government official as saying that Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida was coordinating the summit of the four nations invited to the NATO summit as partners in the Asia-Pacific region. 

Kishida and the Asia Pacific leaders are likely to express their unity in opposing unilateral attempts to change the status quo in the East China Sea by force, with China in mind, and reiterate the importance of maintaining and strengthening the free and open international order based on the rule of law. 

The NATO summit will be held in Washington D.C. from next Tuesday through Thursday. 

 

Kishida said last week he will also seek an opportunity for talks with the leader of South Korea on the sidelines of the NATO summit.