(Bloomberg) — Australia and Japan will sign a “historic” treaty that will further 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 type for Japan, other than with the U.S. and the UN, and marks a step closer in 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 Australian Defence Force and the Japanese Self-Defence Force, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said in an emailed statement. The pact will provide a clear framework for enhanced interoperability and cooperation, he added.
“This treaty will be a statement of our two nations’ commitment to work together in meeting the shared strategic 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 in 2020 for independent investigators to enter Wuhan to probe the origins of the coronavirus. Beijing inflicted a range of trade reprisals, including crippling tariffs on Australian barley and wine, while blocking coal shipments.
Australia also signed a strategic defense pact last year with U.K. and the U.S. that will enable 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 with India and the U.S., and shared technology-led approach to reducing carbon emissions, Morrison said.
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