IRIA News

Japan and Australia have signed a new bilateral security pact covering military, intelligence, and cybersecurity cooperation to strengthen defense ties and counter China’s increasing assertiveness in the region.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida signed the joint security declaration at the annual Australia-Japan Leaders’ Meeting in the city of Perth on October 22. The pact is an update to an existing 2007 bilateral security declaration.

The Joint Declaration on Security Cooperation (JDSC) charts a path for closer security and defense cooperation between Australia and Japan over the next decade. The joint statement said that the countries recognize that the “partnership must continue to evolve to meet growing risks to our shared values and mutual strategic interests.”

The updated security declaration also calls for further collaboration in the areas of space, cyber and regional capacity-building. The two countries would also share more sensitive intelligence and conduct joint military exercises. The two sides would also expand cooperation across energy transition, climate change, disaster response, health security, maritime security, and economic security.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio @kishida230 and I signed the declaration today in Perth, reflecting the strong and growing Special Strategic Partnership between our two countries.

Together we are accelerating efforts to realise a stable, open and prosperous Indo-Pacific. pic.twitter.com/ltLy4rApOQ

— Anthony Albanese (@AlboMP) October 22, 2022

Japanese and Australian forces to hold joint training

Japan’s Self-Defense Forces will train and take part in exercises with the Australian military in northern Australia for the first time under the agreement – the first of its kind Japan has signed with any country other than the United States. The pact would reinforce Japan’s and Australia’s bilateral security treaties with the United States that underpin peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific, according to the officials. “Deepening trilateral cooperation with the United States is critical to enhancing our strategic alignment, policy coordination, interoperability and joint capability” the joint statement noted.

The two countries are central to the U.S.’s strategy of building a network of alliances in the Indo-Pacific to counter China’s influence in the region. While the joint declaration doesn’t specifically mention China, the Japanese and Australian leaders expressed concerns in a separate statement about Beijing’s moves in the East China Sea and the South China Sea.

Strategic Partnership

The Japanese leader said the two nations had been working to achieve a free and open Indo-Pacific and agreed to expand the security and defense cooperation under the cooperative framework in intelligence, logistics, and operational aspects.

“We concurred that our special strategic partnership had risen to a new and higher level,” Kishida said, adding that Australia and Japan share fundamental values and interests in “an increasingly severe strategic environment” without naming any country. Prime Minister Kishida also expressed his resolve to examine all options necessary for national defense, including so-called “counterstrike capabilities” and stated his determination to fundamentally reinforce Japan’s defense capabilities within the next five years.

During a press conference, Australian Prime Minister Albanese said that “The level of interaction which we have reflects very much the special strategic partnership that Australia and Japan have. We two countries really matter to each other now more than ever.” He added that “This landmark declaration sends a strong signal to the region of our strategic alignment.”

Climate and Energy Security

Albanese and Kishida also discussed climate change, expressing support for the transition to net zero carbon emissions and boosting investment in clean energy. Australia is the largest supplier of liquefied natural gas (LNG), coal, and other kinds of energy to Japan, and “is of the utmost importance to Japan’s energy security” said Kishida. He added that the countries would further develop ties in the energy sector in the wake of the fuel crisis due to the war in Ukraine.

The two leaders recognized the importance of renewable and clean energy technologies in improving energy security and economic prosperity. They vowed to strengthen cooperation to ensure better access to affordable, reliable, and secure clean energy in the Indo-Pacific while moving towards a net zero world.

Minerals Cooperation

Australia and Japan also announced a critical minerals partnership to build secure critical mineral supply chains and promote investment, facilitate commercial arrangements, develop Australia’s domestic critical minerals sector, and ensure Japan has the supply of critical minerals required for its advanced manufacturing industry.

The new Critical Minerals Partnership was signed by Minister for Resources and Minister for Northern Australia Madeleine King and Hirohide Hirai Japan’s Vice Minister for International Affairs, Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry. “This new partnership will be a welcome boost to Australia’s critical minerals sector” and strengthen Australia’s deep ties and ongoing trade relationship with Japan and would build on existing trade supply chains, Minister King said. Australia has some of the world’s largest reserves of critical minerals, including rare earths, which are crucial components of clean energy technologies such as batteries, wind turbines, electric vehicles, and solar panels.

The two leaders also welcomed progress on bilateral cooperation to strengthen economic security, particularly through the Quad and the Supply Chain Resilience Initiative, and agreed to explore further opportunities to build stronger and more resilient supply chains, such as for semiconductors.