Japan, Australia to take military ties to ‘new height’ to tackle China clout

Tokyo and Canberra signed security deals and agreed to jointly help the Philippine coastguard in the South China Sea

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(Left to right) Japanese Defence Minister Minoru Kihara, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong, Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa and Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles during their meeting in Queenscliff on Thursday. Photo: EPA-EFE

Published: 3:15pm, 5 Sep 2024

Japan vowed to bolster military ties with Australia during a high-ranking visit on Thursday, with Tokyo’s top diplomat saying the “like-minded” partners must stick together to combat shared regional threats.

Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa and Defence 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 coastguard, 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 “like-minded 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.