Australia, Japan Reaffirm Defense Cooperation

(MENAFN- Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)) TOKYO, Sept 5 (KUNA) -- Japan and Australia agreed Friday to broaden security cooperation to strengthen collective deterrence and deepen joint exercises under their bilateral defense access pact, Japan's Foreign Ministry said.
During their foreign and defense ministers' meeting ("2+2") in Tokyo that brought together Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya and Defense Minister Gen Nakatani with Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong and Defense Minister Richard Marles, they also confirmed enhanced coordination on cyber, information security and economic security, including critical minerals and supply chains, according to the ministry.
The four ministers hailed the start of dispatching liaison officers to each other's joint operations commands, pledging to strengthen operational coordination through their activities.
They also welcomed Australia's selection of an upgraded Mogami-class frigate as the preferred platform for its future general-purpose frigate program and agreed to advance cooperation toward the conclusion of the contract.
"We reiterated our strong opposition to any unilateral attempts to change the status quo by force or coercion in the East China Sea and the South China Sea.
We expressed serious concern at the increase in scale and frequency of provocative activities by China in Japan's maritime and air domains," the ministers said in a joint statement released after their talks.
In addition, the two countries committed to deepen cooperation with European partners across a broad range of areas, including cyber cooperation and defense technology, leveraging cooperation with the EU and with NATO, according to the statement.
"Looking ahead to the next 50 years beyond the upcoming 50th anniversary of the signing of the Basic Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation next year, we held candid discussions with a strong determination that Japan and Australia will work together to make a powerful contribution to the peace and stability of the region and the international community," Iwaya said at the joint press conference.
For her part, Wong stressed that both sides reaffirmed their commitment to "the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and strongly condemn North Korea's continued provocative actions, as well as Russia's ongoing illegal and immoral invasion of Ukraine." (end)
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