Japan, Australia upgrade security pact amid China’s rise
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese signed a bilateral security agreement on Saturday to bolster cooperation amid concerns over China’s increasing regional power.
The new pact, signed in Perth, Australia, commits the two US allies to deeper collaboration over the coming decade, including intelligence sharing and more sophisticated joint military exercises.
They agreed to consult one another on contingencies that may affect regional security interests. Trilateral cooperation with the US is “critical” the agreement says.
While the declaration doesn’t mention China, and Japan has denied its security agreements are aimed at any particular country, the document includes a section on the “free and open Indo-Pacific”, a phrase often used to refer to the need to counter the influence of Japan’s giant neighbor.
In that context, the pact refers to the need for “a favorable strategic balance”.
Japan has pledged a substantial increase in military spending starting next year, while Australia has signed a deal with the US and UK to acquire nuclear submarines.
The agreement is an update of the 2007 Joint Declaration on Security Cooperation, which provided a springboard for further deals on intelligence sharing, exchanging military support and troop access and enabled the two nations to conduct joint exercises, most recently alongside the US and Canada in the South China Sea.
The US is Japan’s only formal treaty ally, but Tokyo has elevated its relationship with Australia, also its biggest supplier of liquefied natural gas and coal, to the status of a “quasi-alliance”.
Albanese signaled his determination to prioritize the relationship by heading to Tokyo for a summit of the so-called Quad, which also includes the US and India, immediately after his election in May.
The four-nation group, which has grown in stature in recent years as a counter to China, has been criticized by Beijing as a “clique” that could stoke a new Cold War.
Albanese also met with Kishida and other regional partners on the sidelines of the NATO summit in June, while he and three former Australian premiers attended the funeral of slain former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Tokyo last month.