Japan and Australia yesterday signed a “landmark” treaty to enhance defense ties, saying the accord would contribute to regional stability, as China expands its military and economic clout.
Although Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison did not mention Beijing directly in a statement released ahead of the signing, the agreement is seen as another step by the regional allies to signal their concern over China’s military expansion.
Ahead of yesterday’s online summit with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, Morrison called the agreement “a statement of 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.”
Photo: AFP
Australia has been working with Japan, India, the UK and the US to strengthen defense ties amid concerns about China, including its pressure on Taiwan, freedom of navigation in the region and trade disputes.
The Reciprocal Access Agreement, Japan’s first with any country, would allow Australian and Japanese militaries to work seamlessly with each other on defense and humanitarian operations, Morrison said.
“Japan is our closest partner in Asia as demonstrated by our special strategic partnership, Australia’s only such partnership — an equal partnership of shared trust between two great democracies committed to the rule of law, human rights, free trade and a free and open Indo-Pacific,” Morrison said.
Kishida called the agreement a “breakthrough” and said ties with Australia would remain a model for security cooperation with other countries, a Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs official told a news conference.
When asked about the treaty at a regular briefing on Wednesday, Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Wang Wenbin (汪文斌) said that “the Pacific Ocean is vast enough for the common development of countries in the region.”
The question of Japan’s security role is likely to figure prominently at “two-plus-two” talks today between the foreign and defense ministers of Japan and the US.
“The ministers are expected to talk about security cooperation in the region,” a Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs official told reporters ahead of the talks.
Although Japan maintains a “one China” policy and China is its top export destination, Tokyo’s relationship with Taipei has flourished in the past few years on a largely non-governmental basis, and there has been growing debate among politicians and security experts on whether it should get involved if China was ever to take military action against Taiwan.
Today’s talks could see the US and Japan formalize their work on a draft plan for a joint operation in the event of an emergency over Taiwan, Kyodo news agency reported.
Additional reporting by Reuters
The International Industrial Talents Education Special (INTENSE) Program to attract foreigners to study and work in Taiwan will provide scholarships and a living allowance of up to NT$440,000 per person for two years beginning in August, Minister of Education Pan Wen-chung (潘文忠) told a meeting of the legislature’s Education and Culture Committee yesterday. Pan was giving an update on the program’s implementation, a review of universities’ efforts to recruit international students and promotion of the Taiwan Huayu Bilingual Exchanges of Selected Talent (BEST) program. Each INTENSE Program student would be awarded a scholarship of up to NT$100,000 per year for up to
BASIC OPERATIONS: About half a dozen navy ships from both countries took part in the days-long exercise based on the Code for Unplanned Encounters at Sea An unpublicized joint military exercise between Taiwan and the US in the Pacific Ocean last month was carried out in accordance with an international code, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said yesterday. According to a Reuters report citing four unnamed sources, the two nations’ navies last month conducted joint drills in the Western Pacific. The drills were not made public at the time, but “about half-a-dozen navy ships from both sides, including frigates and supply and support vessels, participated in the days-long exercises,” Reuters reported, citing the sources. The drills were designed to practice “basic” operations such as communications, refueling and resupplies,
‘MONEY PIT’: The KMT’s more than NT$2 trillion infrastructure project proposals for eastern Taiwan lack professional input and financial transparency, the DPP said The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus yesterday said it would ask the Executive Yuan to raise a motion to oppose the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus’ infrastructure proposals and prepare to file for a constitutional interpretation if the KMT-dominated legislature forces their passage. The DPP caucus described the three infrastructure plans for transportation links to eastern Taiwan proposed by the KMT as “three money pit projects” that would cost more than NT$2 trillion (US$61.72 billion). It would ask the Executive Yuan to oppose public projects that would drain state financial resources, DPP caucus secretary-general Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤) said. It would also file for
Singapore yesterday swore in Lawrence Wong (黃循財) as the city-state’s new prime minister in a ceremony broadcast live on television after Lee Hsien Loong (李顯龍) stepped down following two decades in office. Wong, formerly deputy prime minister, was inaugurated at the Istana government office shortly after 8pm to become the second person outside the Lee family to lead the nation. “I ... do solemnly swear that I will at all times faithfully discharge my duties as prime minister according to law, and to the best of my knowledge and ability, without fear or favor, affection or ill-will. So help me God,” the