4 Asia-Pacific nations, NATO for  cooperation against disinformation

Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand and NATO are considering boosting their cooperation in countering disinformation, government sources said Friday, in response to increasingly severe security challenges posed by China and Russia.

The expansion of their partnership is expected to be agreed upon at a NATO summit scheduled to be held for three days from Tuesday in Washington. The leaders of the four nations will be invited as partners in the Indo-Pacific region, collectively called IP4.

The summit participants are set to establish a new dialogue framework for discussions on countermeasures against disinformation, the sources said, adding they are likely to confirm that the first meeting will take place in Japan.

The four countries and NATO also plan to bolster cooperation in support for Ukraine, which has been under invasion by Russia since February 2022, as well as in cyber defence and the utilization of state-of-the-art technologies, the Japanese sources said.

The move comes amid globally intensifying “information warfare.” A large amount of false information has been spread by Russia on its war in Ukraine and by China on its military drills near Taiwan, a self-ruled democratic island Beijing claims as its own territory.

At the upcoming NATO gathering, which Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is slated to attend, the leaders are also expected to agree that the IP4 nations will participate in future joint cybersecurity exercises by the 32-member trans-Atlantic alliance.

Based on the perception that the security of the Indo-Pacific region and Europe is inseparable, NATO and the IP4 countries have been strengthening their security relations in recent years.