Japan to welcome 30 Nato envoys as Trump rattles US allies

Japan and NATO are drawing closer together, with 30 representatives from the transatlantic security alliance’s member states set to visit Tokyo this month amid mounting concern over Washington’s reliability as a security partner.The NATO envoys will reportedly hold talks on China’s expanding regional influence, Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine and the implications of a more volatile global security order, according to Japanese public broadcaster NHK.“A delegation of this size underlines just how important this is to both sides,” said Ben Ascione, an assistant professor of politics and international relations at Waseda University in Tokyo, adding that the visit reflected “a long-term trend”.Japan opened a permanent mission to NATO in Brussels in January last year as it and the rest of the so-called Indo-Pacific Four – South Korea, Australia and New Zealand – have been steadily deepening cooperation with the alliance.It cannot have been lost on Tokyo that the US is no longer a reliable ally under TrumpJapanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s predecessor Fumio Kishida, in particular, put “a lot of effort into building links with the alliance”, Ascione said.