Australia has backed Tokyo’s concerns after a Chinese spy plane flew over Japanese waters for the first time last month, as the Albanese government committed to stronger Australian, Japanese and US militaries as a check against Beijing.
China’s increasingly frequent incursions in the East China Sea and South China Sea
– including clashes with Philippine vessels
– dominated talks between Defence Minister Richard Marles, Foreign Minister Penny Wong and their Japanese counterparts yesterday.
Ministers announced several new measures to deepen security ties, including embedding Australian and Japanese liaison officers in each country’s command headquarters to streamline planning for joint exercises and operations.
Planning is under way for Japanese amphibious forces to deploy to Darwin to exercise alongside Australian troops and US Marines, while Australian troops will participate for the first time in the Japanese-US land drills known as Orient Shield.
And Australian and Japanese air forces will step up engagement, including more deployments of Japanese F-35 fighter jets to Australia for joint training, as revealed by The Australian Financial Review.
Mr Marles said it was crucial Australia and Japan built security ties when the global environment was increasingly difficult and the rules-based order under threat. ‘‘Our two countries have never been more close, where we have never had a greater strategic alignment, where our relationship has never been stronger.’’
Tensions spiked between Tokyo and Beijing last month when a Chinese Y-9 spy plane violated Japanese airspace in the East China Sea for the first time. The plane flew into Japanese territory near the Danjo Islands for three minutes, prompting Tokyo to scramble fighter jets.
On Saturday, a Chinese survey ship sailed into Japanese territorial waters in the Tokara Strait, a key link to the Pacific Ocean. In both cases, Tokyo lodged diplomatic protests. Chinese officials said they had no intention of invading another country’s airspace and maintained Chinese warships could transit through the Strait.
Mr Marles confirmed the Chinese military’s incursion had been discussed yesterday. ‘‘We certainly expressed our support for Japan’s sovereignty,’’ Mr Marles said.
‘‘It really underlined our shared commitment to asserting the rules-based order in the Indo-Pacific, in our neighbourhood.’’
Speaking through an interpreter, Japanese Defence Minister Minoru Kihara said the Chinese plane had ‘‘invaded’’ his country’s airspace and Tokyo had made clear its strong opposition to changing the status quo through force or coercion.
Australian Strategic Policy Institute senior analyst Euan Graham said the big takeaway was much tighter trilateral cooperation with the US.
The Japanese bid to build 11 new general-purpose frigates for the Australian navy was also raised during talks. It is competing against rivals from Spain, Germany and South Korea.
