By Yuki Tatsumi
Japan and Australia created a new framework for defense cooperation. Now comes the hard part: actually cooperating.
On November 22, the Sixth Japan-Australia 2+2 Foreign and Defense Ministerial Consultation took place in Sydney. The Joint Communique, issued following the meeting, emphasized the relationship as a “special strategic partnership” that is “based on common values and strategic interests including democracy, human rights, the rule of law, open markets, and fair trade.”
Based on the agreement among the four ministers to prioritize a closer Japan-Australia defense relationship, the 2+2 meeting also endorsed further steps to institutionalize the bilateral defense relationship, such as an agreement to reciprocally facilitate joint operations, training, and exercises. Furthermore, the Joint Communique addressed a list of security concerns that are shared between the two countries — the South China Sea, North Korea, and terrorism, to name a few — as well as mutual interests in supporting regional and global multinational institutions.
This Communique is indicative of the increasing importance Japan attaches to its relationship with Australia. Although this is not a new development — the efforts to pursue a closer bilateral relationship can be traced back to the period when Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi was in office — it definitely accelerated under Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s watch. After all, it was when Abe succeeded Koizumi as the prime minister in the fall of 2006 that the two countries signed the Japan-Australia Joint Declaration on Security Cooperation, laying the foundation for the more robust relationship that the two countries enjoy today.
Read the full story at The Diplomat