NATO Secretary-General, Jens Stoltenberg warned that China was "substantially" building up its military and trying to assert its power in the region, as he visited Japan to boost ties with Tokyo amid an increasingly tense security environment.

In a speech and panel discussion event at Keio University at Tokyo, Jens Stoltenberg said China was not an adversary and NATO would engage with the country on areas of potential common interest. Stoltenberg and Japanese Prime Minister, Fumio Kishida pledged to strengthen ties in a meeting the previous day, saying Russia's invasion of Ukraine and its growing military cooperation with China had created the most tense security environment since World War Two.