Australia plans to sign a military exchange agreement with U.S. ally Japan so that their military forces can be combined, if needed, to deal with China, with which Australia has been locked in a dispute for the past two weeks.
The two sides said after high-level talks on Nov. 17 that they will sign a mutual access agreement next year. The agreement will allow each side’s forces to operate on the other’s territory, bringing Australian troops closer to U.S. forces stationed in Japan for years.
The agreement will help both sides increase their combat power in the event of any conflict with China. China was the West’s adversary during the Cold War and is constantly expanding its military and economic reach outwards.
Malcolm Davis, a senior analyst of defense strategy and capabilities at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute in Canberra, said: “As we develop our defense and security capabilities with our neighbors, with our partners in the region, and with our neighbors in the world, we are going to be able to do a lot of things that are important to China. In our relationship with China, we are thinking about how to respond to an increasingly aggressive and assertive China. They are no longer satisfied with trying to expand their influence, but have actually attacked us in terms of political warfare and political coercion.”
Australia angered China in April of this year by calling for an investigation into the handling of the new coronavirus outbreak. In the past month, China has stranded more than 50 Australian coal ships outside Chinese ports, imposed high tariffs on a range of Australian agricultural imports, and published a composite image in the news media alluding to the brutal killing of Afghan children by Australian soldiers.
Japan, a treaty ally of the United States for some 60 years, is also embroiled in a maritime sovereignty dispute with China. Australia, Japan, the United States, and India are each part of an alliance known as the Quad Security Dialogue (Quad), an alliance formed in 2007 to conduct maritime sovereignty disputes with China. The alliance was established in 2007 to engage in dialogue, information exchange, and military exercises.
On November 17, Tokyo and Canberra agreed to negotiate the Japan-Australia Reciprocal Access Agreement (RAA), Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on its website. At the time, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison was visiting Tokyo to meet with Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga. Japan does not have a similar agreement with any other country except the United States.
In their joint statement, the leaders of Japan and Australia avoided China’s name but condemned its activities in the South China Sea. By 2017, Beijing had gained the upper hand in a sovereignty dispute involving six parties after filling in multiple reefs in the South China Sea to create islands for military use.
The joint statement said, “[The two leaders] are deeply concerned about recent negative developments and serious incidents in the South China Sea, including the continued militarization of disputed islands, the dangerous and coercive use of coast guard vessels and ‘maritime militias,’ the firing of ballistic missiles, and the undermining of the sovereignty of other countries. resource development activities.”
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian slammed the statement as “serious interference in China’s internal affairs.
Ei Sun OH, a senior fellow at the Singapore Institute of International Affairs, said Beijing cannot see the Australia-Japan agreement as an explicit confrontation with China. Of course China doesn’t like it, but it can’t argue that it’s directed at China,” Hu said. Any two countries can sign this kind of agreement. And a third country can’t say ‘it’s targeting me.'”
On the contrary, U.S. officials may be pleased with the Australia-Japan agreement because Washington wants its allies to contribute to pro-American activities in Asia, according to Stephen Nagy, a senior associate professor at the Institute of Politics and International Studies at the International Christian University in Tokyo.
The U.S. government periodically dispatches naval vessels to the South China Sea, to Beijing’s displeasure, and provides Asian countries with weapons to defend themselves against China. Beijing maintains the world’s third most powerful armed force. President Trump’s administration also contends with China on trade, technology acquisition, and consular issues.
Australian troops can come here and train more frequently and probably more intensively bilaterally with Japan, and certainly with the United States, because the U.S. military is already here, and that creates more interoperability,” Najib said. It creates a closer bilateral and multilateral partnership to counter China.”
Scholars believe that the reciprocal access agreement will allow for smoother exercises and training between countries that are already cooperating militarily. The Japanese have already visited Australia for military training, such as a long-range howitzer firing exercise last year.
Davis said the two sides could learn from each other on amphibious warfare and explore areas for joint development in the future, such as long-range strike capability.
In a statement posted on the prime minister’s website in November, Morrison said, “The importance of reciprocal access agreements (RAAs) cannot be underestimated. In a more uncertain strategic environment, it will form a critical underpinning for Australia and Japan’s response to the increasingly challenging security environment in our region.”
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