CANBERRA, Australia (AP) \u2014 Japan and Australia on Saturday signed a new bilateral security agreement covering military, intelligence and cybersecurity cooperation to counter the deteriorating security outlook driven by China\u2019s increasing assertiveness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The upgrade of the Joint Declaration on Security Cooperation, a pact first signed in 2007 when China\u2019s rise was less concerning, was the major outcome of Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida\u2019s meeting with his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese in the west coast city of Perth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It builds on a\u00a0reciprocal access agreement\u00a0that Kishida inked in January with then-Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison that removes obstacles to holding joint military exercises in either country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That is the first such agreement Japan has struck with any country other than the United States. Japan announced Saturday that its Self-Defense Forces will train and take part in exercises with the Australian military in northern Australia for the first time under the agreement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the context of that agreement, Albanese told reporters: \u201cThis landmark declaration sends a strong signal to the region of our strategic alignment.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The declaration covers military interoperability, intelligence, cybersecurity, operations in space, law enforcement, logistics and protecting telecommunications.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The declaration also refers to cooperation in \u201cresisting economic coercion and disinformation\u201d \u2014 threats that China is widely accused of.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kishida said the new framework of cooperation had been developed under an \u201cincreasingly harsh strategic environment.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis renewed declaration \u2026 will chart the direction of our security and defense cooperation in the next 10 years,\u201d Kishida said through an interpreter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The prime ministers agreed the new declaration reinforced Japan\u2019s and Australia\u2019s bilateral security treaties with the United States that underpin peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kishida\u2019s visit for an annual bilateral summit is his fourth meeting with Albanese since the Australian leader\u2019s government was elected in May.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They\u00a0first met in Tokyo, two days after the election, for a summit of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, better known as the Quad, which brought Albanese and Kishida together with U.S. President Joe Biden and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The decision to hold Saturday\u2019s meeting in Perth \u2014 Western Australia state\u2019s capital, which provides much of Japan\u2019s liquefied natural gas and the wheat from which udon noodles are made \u2014 was symbolic of the close economic ties between the two countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Japan and Australia agreed to cooperate on energy security, which is threatened globally by Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine. Australia provides most of Japan\u2019s energy in the forms of LNG and coal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kishida said he and Albanese were both deeply committed to nuclear disarmament. Kishida said a\u00a0Russian nuclear strike on Ukraine\u00a0would be an \u201cact of hostility against humanity.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cRussia\u2019s act of threatening the use of nuclear weapons is a serious threat to the peace and security of the international community and absolutely unacceptable,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Japan and Australia have agreed to improve energy security by boosting Japan\u2019s access to LNG, hydrogen and critical minerals as both countries transition to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The two countries also signed a critical minerals partnership that would strengthen supply chains for Japanese manufacturers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Australia\u2019s resources of critical minerals like antimony, cobalt, lithium, manganese ore, niobium, tungsten and vanadium rank in the top five globally, an Australian government website said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Critical minerals, including\u00a0rare earths, are crucial components to clean energy technologies\u00a0such as batteries, wind turbines, electric vehicles, solar panels and hydrogen electrolyzers, the government said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kishida said Australia had gained special importance outside of Japan\u2019s alliance with the United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI feel Japan-Australia relations have become a key part of Japan\u2019s cooperation with its partners,\u201d Kishida told Japanese reporters who flew to Australia with him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
China\u2019s defense budget has more than quadrupled since 2007 when Australia and Japan signed their first defense declaration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In 2006, Japanese warplanes scrambled 22 times to intercept Chinese military aircraft in Japanese airspace. Last year, Japanese warplanes scrambled 722 times in response to Chinese aircraft.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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