The defense chiefs of Australia and Japan used a meeting in Tokyo on Sunday to announce the launch of a “framework for strategic defense coordination” as they seek new ways to deepen cooperation in all areas amid shared concerns about Chinese military activities in the region.
The move, which comes as ties between Tokyo and Beijing dip to their lowest point in over a decade, will include a comprehensive annual meeting between representatives of the quasi-allies’ defense ministries, militaries and intelligence communities, Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi and his Australian counterpart, Richard Marles, told reporters following their talks.
Koizumi said that future defense collaboration would be conducted under the new framework to ensure the two sides can work together more effectively and with greater strategic alignment “at all levels and in all situations.” The framework, he added, would cover “all areas,” citing cyber, space, logistics and supply-chain management as some of the intended fields of collaboration.