Japan and Australia vowed Thursday to raise defense cooperation “to a new level” to cope with an increasingly complex regional situation, amid China’s expanding military presence in the Indo-Pacific.
At the outset of talks by foreign and defense ministers of the two nations at Queenscliff in the southeastern Australian state of Victoria, Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa said she and the other ministers recognized their nations are facing “unilateral attempts to change the status quo by force or coercion” in the region.
“To address various challenges we face, I believe it is extremely important that Japan and Australia continue to strengthen security cooperation and elevate it to a new level,” Kamikawa said.
Australian Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Richard Marles said after the talks the ministers had agreed to enhance engagement between the two nation’s air forces and further develop trilateral engagements with the United States.
Australia will also for the first time join the Orient Shield annual joint exercise of the U.S. Army and Japan’s Ground Self-Defense Force next year, Marles said.
The security talks held by Marles, his Japanese counterpart Minoru Kihara, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong and Kamikawa were the first “two-plus-two” talks between the two nations since December 2022 in Tokyo.
Australia and Japan have deepened their security partnership, engaging in more frequent joint exercises and collaboration between defense forces under a bilateral reciprocal access agreement that took effect in August last year.
The agreement enables quicker dispatch of defense personnel between the two nations and eases restrictions on the transport of weapons and supplies for joint drills and disaster relief operations.
The ministers are believed to have talked about Japan’s bid to join Australia’s planned development of a new warship in the meeting, as Tokyo pushes for cooperation on defense equipment and technology with like-minded countries.
BY: The Times Union / KYODO
