Japan, Australia to Expand Regional Security Cooperation

Melbourne, April 18 (Jiji Press)–Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi and his Australian counterpart Richard Marles agreed Saturday to expand cooperation between their countries and with like-minded nations for the security of the Indo-Pacific region. In a meeting in Melbourne, the two ministers affirmed that Japan and Australia are at the core of the alliance of like-minded nations for Indo-Pacific security, and agreed to expand the cooperation to include countries such as the Philippines and India in addition to the United States, apparently to boost deterrence against China’s increasing maritime expansion and North Korea’s repeated missile launches. The defense chiefs later signed a memorandum to promote a plan to build new warships based on the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force’s upgraded Mogami-class frigate for supply to the Royal Australian Navy. Under the bilateral deal, the first warship will be delivered in December 2029. The first three of the 11 vessels under the project will be built in Japan, and the rest in Australia. “We will jointly enhance deterrence to protect a free and open Indo-Pacific and the rule of law and prevent new war,” Koizumi said at a joint press conference. “Japan and Australia will expand security cooperation to the fullest.” “Various forms of multilateral cooperation are possible,” at a time when the United States focuses on the conflict in the Middle East, the Japanese minister added. “We want to find the best form and realize it.” “There is no country in the world with whom we have a greater strategic alignment than Japan, that, in turn, is underpinned by complete trust,” Marles said. He said the Mogami-class frigate will be the “backbone” of the Royal Australian Navy and thanked Japan for moving to ease its defense equipment export rules, voicing hopes for strengthening defense industry cooperation. The latest meeting between Koizumi and Marles was their sixth, following their previous meeting in Tokyo on April 8. The two ministers also discussed the situation in the Middle East. Koizumi expressed hopes to export Japanese-made defense equipment also to countries including New Zealand, which has shown interest in the Mogami-class frigate, as well as Indonesia and the Philippines. Many countries have shown expectations for Japanese equipment, he said. Koizumi rebutted China’s criticism of Japan’s defense equipment exports, saying: “We (Japan and China) need to talk, all the more because we have different opinions. We are ready to explain if they want.” END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]