QUEENSCLIFF, Australia – Japan vowed to bolster military ties with Australia during a high-ranking visit on Thursday, with Tokyo’s top diplomat saying the “likeminded” partners must stick together to combat shared regional threats.
Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa and Defense Minister Minoru Kihara met their Australian counterparts at an old army fort outside Melbourne, striking deals on greater air force cooperation and expanded military exercises.
They also agreed to jointly help the Philippine Coast Guard, which is locked in an escalating tussle with Chinese ships in the disputed waters of the South China Sea.
“Amidst the increasingly difficult security environment in the Indo-Pacific, we need to constantly raise Japan-Australia security cooperation to a new height,” Kamikawa said after the meeting, touting a “likeminded partnership”.
China’s growing economic and military clout in the Asia-Pacific region — and its assertiveness in territorial disputes — has rattled the United States and allies such as Japan and Australia.
Tokyo has in recent weeks accused China of deliberately sailing a naval ship through its waters and flying a surveillance plane into its air space.
Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said the meeting raised “serious concerns” about recent “incursions” into Japanese territory.
The meeting produced broad agreements for Japan and Australia to boost air force cooperation, and to join each other in military exercises alongside the United States.
Japan’s elite Amphibious Rapid Deployment Brigade could soon take part in US Marines rotations based in Australia’s key northern base near Darwin.
Defense Minister Kihara said Japan was considering whether its fleet of F-35 stealth fighters could be deployed to Australian air fields, but said an agreement on this was yet to be struck.
“As for the rotation of the Air Self-Defense Force aircraft, we would like to continue to have consultations between Australia and Japan,” cautioned Kihara.
The two countries promised joint support for the Philippine Coast Guard, although it was unclear what this help would look like.
Japan and northern Australia offer strategically important military gateways to potential flashpoints in the Taiwan Strait, East China Sea and South China Sea.
Both are part of the Quad alliance alongside the United States and India, a grouping seen as a bulwark against Beijing.
Tokyo has recently shown an interest in parts of the landmark AUKUS security accord between Washington, London and Canberra — particularly helping with the development of advanced military technologies.
Staunchly pacifist for decades, Japan has been ramping up defense spending with US encouragement.
Australia has meanwhile embarked on its own military overhaul, plowing money into long-range strike capabilities and the development of nuclear-powered submarines.
