Australia and Japan will sign a historic treaty that will strengthen defense and security cooperation during a virtual leaders summit on Thursday, in a move that could further inflame tensions with China.
The agreement is the first of its kind for Japan other than the United States, and marks a step closer to a relationship that is often referred to as a quasi alliance. The signing of a Reciprocal Access Agreement will underpin greater and more complex practical engagement between the Japanese Self-Defense Force and the Australian Defense Force, Prime Minister Scott Morrison wrote in an emailed statement. He added that the pact will provide a clear framework for interoperability and cooperation.
The treaty will be a statement of our two nations commitment to work together to meet the shared security challenges we face and to contribute to a secure and stable Indo-Pacific, Morrison said.
Under Morrison's watch, Australia's relations with China - its largest trading partner - have nosedived in the wake of his government s call for independent investigators to enter Wuhan to find out the origins of the coronaviruses. Beijing imposed a series of trade reprisals, including crippling tariffs on Australian barley and wine, while blocking coal shipments.
Australia signed a strategic defense pact with the United Kingdom and the U.S. last year that will allow the country to build nuclear-powered submarines, a move that China said would fuel an arms race in the region.
Cooperation under the new Australia-Japan pact also includes an expanding agenda for the Quad, which includes India and the U.S. and a shared technology-led approach to reducing carbon emissions, Morrison said.