Recent economic and political volatility in Asia and the rest of the world are spurring closer strategic cooperation between Tokyo and Canberra, Australia’s foreign minister said yesterday.
“Australia will weather global and regional volatility, but that means our relationship with trusted partners like Japan is even more important,” Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs Julie Bishop said during a speech in Tokyo, where she met with Japanese Minister of Foreign Affairs Fumio Kishida.
Bishop, on her fifth visit to Japan, was yesterday to travel to Beijing for talks with Chinese officials after meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Japanese Minister of Defense Gen Nakatani.
Photo: AFP
As well as security cooperation with Japan, Australia is seeking deeper economic ties with China, its largest trading partner.
Japan is hoping that Australia’s appetite for deeper security ties will bolster its bid to sell Canberra a fleet of stealthy submarines. Kishida in his meeting with Bishop yesterday noted the strategic significance of a Japanese built submarine.
Australia this year is to pick the design for a new fleet of submarines in a deal worth as much as A$40 billion (US$28.7 billion). Japan, which is offering a variant of its 4,200-tonne Soryu-class submarine, is competing against rival bids from Germany and France for the contract.
Washington is encouraging closer security cooperation between Japan and Australia as it looks to its Asian allies to shoulder a bigger security role as China’s rise alters the balance of power in the region.
Bishop pointed to tensions in the South China Sea and “random acts of destabilization,” such as North Korea’s recent rocket launch and nuclear test as “challenges” in Asia.
BACKLASH: The National Party quit its decades-long partnership with the Liberal Party after their election loss to center-left Labor, which won a historic third term Australia’s National Party has split from its conservative coalition partner of more than 60 years, the Liberal Party, citing policy differences over renewable energy and after a resounding loss at a national election this month. “Its time to have a break,” Nationals leader David Littleproud told reporters yesterday. The split shows the pressure on Australia’s conservative parties after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s center-left Labor party won a historic second term in the May 3 election, powered by a voter backlash against US President Donald Trump’s policies. Under the long-standing partnership in state and federal politics, the Liberal and National coalition had shared power
CONTROVERSY: During the performance of Israel’s entrant Yuval Raphael’s song ‘New Day Will Rise,’ loud whistles were heard and two people tried to get on stage Austria’s JJ yesterday won the Eurovision Song Contest, with his operatic song Wasted Love triumphing at the world’s biggest live music television event. After votes from national juries around Europe and viewers from across the continent and beyond, JJ gave Austria its first victory since bearded drag performer Conchita Wurst’s 2014 triumph. After the nail-biting drama as the votes were revealed running into yesterday morning, Austria finished with 436 points, ahead of Israel — whose participation drew protests — on 357 and Estonia on 356. “Thank you to you, Europe, for making my dreams come true,” 24-year-old countertenor JJ, whose
NO EXCUSES: Marcos said his administration was acting on voters’ demands, but an academic said the move was emotionally motivated after a poor midterm showing Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr yesterday sought the resignation of all his Cabinet secretaries, in a move seen as an attempt to reset the political agenda and assert his authority over the second half of his single six-year term. The order came after the president’s allies failed to win a majority of Senate seats contested in the 12 polls on Monday last week, leaving Marcos facing a divided political and legislative landscape that could thwart his attempts to have an ally succeed him in 2028. “He’s talking to the people, trying to salvage whatever political capital he has left. I think it’s
A documentary whose main subject, 25-year-old photojournalist Fatima Hassouna, was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza weeks before it premiered at Cannes stunned viewers into silence at the festival on Thursday. As the cinema lights came back on, filmmaker Sepideh Farsi held up an image of the young Palestinian woman killed with younger siblings on April 16, and encouraged the audience to stand up and clap to pay tribute. “To kill a child, to kill a photographer is unacceptable,” Farsi said. “There are still children to save. It must be done fast,” the exiled Iranian filmmaker added. With Israel
RSS