ABC NEWS



 

Australia and Japan are set to sign a treaty to beef up defence and security cooperation at a virtual summit today, in the latest move to strengthen ties amid China's rising military power and economic clout in the Indo-Pacific region.
  Key points:

• The agreement forms a framework for defence cooperation
• Australia and Japan will also discuss partnerships on clean energy, critical technologies and materials
• China responded by saying that bilateral treaties should promote regional trust, peace and stability

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said he and Japan's PM Fumio Kishida would sign a Reciprocal Access Agreement (RAA), which would for the first time set out a framework for the two countries' defence forces to cooperate with each other.

"[The RAA] will usher in a new chapter in advanced defence cooperation between Australia and Japan to deal with a new and even more challenging environment, particularly within the Indo-Pacific," Mr Morrison said at a press conference. 

"This will be Japan's only reciprocal status of forces agreement and that says something very significant about the level of trust and partnership — a partnership of equals — standing up for the security of the Indo-Pacific, and of the values of democracy that we hold dear, and the partnerships that we have with so many countries in the region, particularly throughout ASEAN."

Mr Morrison and former Japanese prime minister Yoshihide Suga announced an "in-principle agreement" on the RAA in 2020.

The strengthened security ties expand on efforts by the United States, Japan, India and Australia — dubbed the Quad — to work on shared concerns about China, including its pressure on Taiwan, trade disputes, and freedom of navigation in the region.

China responded by saying that bilateral treaties should promote regional trust, peace and stability.

"It should not target or harm any third party interests," China's foreign ministry spokesman, Wang Wenbin, said when asked about the treaty at a daily news briefing on Wednesday.

"The Pacific Ocean is big enough for the common development of countries in the region.

"Along the same line, peace and stability in the Pacific depends on the joint efforts of countries in the region.

"We hope that the Pacific will be an ocean of peace, not a place to make waves."

Australia and Japan also plan to discuss opportunities to strengthen government and business partnerships on clean energy, critical technologies and materials.

"Our cooperation also includes an expanding agenda for the Quad with India and the United States, and our shared technology-led approach to reducing carbon emissions," Mr Morrison said earlier in a statement.

Japan's top government spokesman, Hirokazu Matsuno, said shared challenges would be discussed in a "candid manner" at the summit.

"Japan-Australia relations will be further enhanced, and towards the realisation of a free and open Indo-Pacific, we will reaffirm our cooperation," Mr Matsuno, Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary, told reporters on Wednesday.

Japanese PM Mr Kishida said on Tuesday that he would forgo overseas visits before the next session of parliament starts on January 17 to focus on laying out anti-pandemic measures.

He had previously planned to travel to Australia in person, according to media reports.