TOKYO (AFP) — Japan’s new Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba warned in his first policy speech Friday that “today’s Ukraine could be tomorrow’s East Asia” while also dubbing the country’s low birth rate a “quiet emergency.”

“Many fear that today’s Ukraine could be tomorrow’s East Asia. Why did deterrence not work in Ukraine?” Ishiba told parliament.

“Combined with the situation in the Middle East, the international community is becoming increasingly divided and confrontational,” the 67-year-old former defense minister said.

Ishiba made no direct reference to China but his country’s relations with Beijing have deteriorated in recent years as it asserts its military presence around disputed territories in the region.

Of particular concern is Taiwan. Beijing claims the democratic island as part of its territory and has never renounced the use of force to bring the self-ruled island under its control.

Japan has also irked China with plans for a major increase in defense spending and by boosting security ties with the United States and its allies including the Philippines and South Korea.

In August, a Chinese military aircraft staged the first confirmed incursion by China into Japanese airspace, followed weeks later by a Japanese warship sailing through the Taiwan Strait for the first time.