Japan and Australia signed a landmark treaty on Thursday to strengthen defense ties, saying the accord would contribute to regional stability as China expands its military and economic clout.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said the agreement will bring Japan-Australia security cooperation to a new level. The agreement was signed on an online meeting with his Australian counterpart Scott Morrison.
The agreement is seen as another step by the regional allies to signal their concern over China's military expansion, although Morrison did not mention Beijing directly in a statement released ahead of the signing.
Morrison called the agreement a statement of two nations commitment to work together to meet the shared security challenges we face and to contribute to a secure and stable Indo-Pacific, ahead of Thursday s talks with Kishida. The landmark treaty will provide a clear framework for enhanced inter-operability and cooperation between our two forces, Morrison said.
He said that the partnership reflects our shared values, commitment to democracy and human rights, and our common interests in a free, open and resilient Indo-Pacific.
The Reciprocal Access Agreement RAA will allow for faster deployment of Japanese Self Defense Forces and Australian Defense Force personnel, as well as ease restrictions on the transportation of weapons and supplies for joint training and disaster relief operations.
Australia is the second country with which Japan has concluded an agreement with the United States.
Japan will try to reach a pact with the U.K. with which Japan launched negotiations in October, and France as the two countries have increased defense cooperation with Tokyo in response to an increasingly assertive China.
Japan and Australia agreed to begin talks on the RAA in 2014 and reached a broad agreement in November 2020, but Japan's death penalty system had been an obstacle in the final stages of the deal.
Australia, which has scrapped capital punishment and called for its abolition worldwide, initially asked for its military personnel to be exempted from the death penalty for crimes committed in Japan.
With Australia increasingly seeing Beijing as a security threat, the two sides struck a deal. Tokyo and Canberra have agreed that each country will retain jurisdiction when sending troops for joint missions, but the host country will have jurisdiction if personnel commit crimes while off duty.
The two countries will launch a joint committee to discuss the details of how to implement the agreement, such as arrangements for extradition of those involved in crimes.
Japan and Australia, along with the United States and India, are part of the Quad grouping that has worked to build an alliance in the face of China's increasing presence across Asia, including its threats to vital international sea lanes.
Ali Wyne, Senior Analyst at Eurasia Group, said the treaty could enhance Tokyo and Canberra's ability to carry out joint military exercises in Japan together with the United States. He said that it goes a long way towards concretizing the forms that security cooperation between Japan and Australia could take.
China will likely cast it as evidence that advanced industrial democracies are trying to stymie its resurgence, although Beijing s own conduct in recent years has contributed to its growing diplomatic estrangement from those countries, Wyne said.
When asked about the treaty at a regular meeting Wednesday, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said the Pacific Ocean is large enough for the common development of countries in the region. State-to- state exchanges and cooperation should be conducive to enhancing mutual understanding and trust between countries in the region, and safeguarding regional peace and stability, rather than undermining or undermining the interests of any third party, he said. We hope that the Pacific will be an ocean of peace, not a place to make waves. Japan's defense spending has been increasing steadily for a decade, and the country s draft 2022 -- 23 budget includes a record figure for the military.
The Japanese Defense Ministry says that the regional security situation is getting increasingly severe at an unprecedented speed, noting challenges posed by China and North Korea.
Wyne said Thursday that the treaty also underscores the momentum of the Quad, which held its first in-person summit in September.
In September, the US, the U.K. and Australia announced that they have formed a new alliance - AUKUS — under which Australia will acquire nuclear-powered submarines using U.S. technology.