While it has been a slow start to the year in the Four Pillars, there have been small and interesting developments.
Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa went to Ukraine this past week, in an unannounced visit. Japan, a Pillar, continues to pledge support for the country in the war against Russia, in technological and nonlethal aids. The Pillars, both in NATO and in the Asia-Pacific, sees the prescience in helping Ukraine, even though it may not directly harm them. Interestingly, Indian munitions, of the Pillar India, were also in use by the Ukrainian military (for their Polish artilleries). This is important as the Pillars move to uphold the international rules-based order, in both Europe and Asia. After all, the war in Ukraine has sparked many challenges to this order across the world, from instabilities in the Middle East to saber-rattling in Latin America.
Recently, several American defense companies were sanctioned by China for arms sales to Taiwan. This shows the continuation of Chinese saber-rattling over the Asia-Pacific, even if recent military purges may reveal setbacks to their ambitions over the region.
Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa and her Ukrainian counterpart, Dmytro Kuleba, hold a news conference in a bomb shelter in Kyiv, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, on Sunday. | REUTERS