Australia choice: Japan over China.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe addresses the House of Representatives, speaking about the special relationship between Japan and Australia.
New alliance ... Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Picture: Rob GriffithSource: AP
AUSTRALIA and Japan have become partners in a “special relationship” that will see both countries join with the US in a powerful military alliance aimed at curbing China’s influence in the region.
During an extraordinary day in the long Australia-Japan relationship, yesterday in Canberra both Prime Minister Tony Abbott and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe pledged to create a partnership for “peace, prosperity and the rule of law”.
Fresh from reversing almost 70 years of pacifism embedded in his nation’s post-World War 2 constitution, Mr Abe placed Australia alongside the US at the forefront of Japan’s future defence strategy.
He told a special joint sitting of Parliament that Australia and Japan would be “joining hands with the United States, an ally for both our nations”.
“We want to make Japan a country that will work to build an international order that upholds the rule of law ... to make the vast seas from the Pacific Ocean to the Indian, and those skies, open and free,” Mr Abe said.
He said a new defence technology agreement would be the first part of “engraving the special relationship in our future”.
‘Special relationship ‘ ... Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott shake hands after signing the Japan-Australia Economic Agreement and the Agreement on the Transfer of Defence Equipment and Technology at Parliament House. Picture: Mark GrahamSource: AFP
Strategic analyst and head of the Defence and Strategic Studies Centre at the Australian National University Hugh White said Mr Abe’s speech made Australia one of the central planks of Japan’s security plan for the Asia-Pacific region.
“The big question for Australia is whether or not it is our interest to be so close to Japan as its relationship with China grows more bitter,” Professor White said.
“Is it appropriate for Japan to use Australia and the US to bolster Japan’s security against China?
“Japan is trying to build a regional coalition against China but that might not be the best way to deal with China.”
Mr Abbott said Australia welcomed Japan’s push to be a more capable strategic partner in the region and he assured Beijing that the new arrangement was not aimed at any one country.
“I stress, ours is not a partnership against anyone; it’s a partnership for peace, for prosperity and for the rule of law,” he said.
“The lesson of the last century is that the countries of our region will all advance together or none of us will advance at all.”
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