{"id":654769,"date":"2026-05-07T04:39:14","date_gmt":"2026-05-07T04:39:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/654769\/"},"modified":"2026-05-07T04:39:14","modified_gmt":"2026-05-07T04:39:14","slug":"australia-and-japan-boost-military-ties-against-china","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/654769\/","title":{"rendered":"Australia and Japan boost military ties against China"},"content":{"rendered":"

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and her Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese announced a further step-up in military relations between the two countries at a meeting in Canberra on Monday, in a move that is part of the US-led confrontation with China.<\/p>\n

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese with Japanese PM Sanae Takaichi, May 4, 2026 [Photo: X\/AlboMP]<\/p>\n

It was the first visit of Takaichi to Australia since her election last October. Dubbed an \u201ciron lady,\u201d Takaichi is a war hawk who is accelerating Japan\u2019s remilitarisation, including through aggressive regional interventions directed against Beijing.<\/p>\n

That was the content of her trip to Vietnam, which she visited immediately before arriving in Canberra.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Speaking in Hanoi on the weekend, Takaichi declared that Japan would play a \u201cmore proactive\u201d role in the Indo-Pacific, in line with Tokyo\u2019s new \u201cFree and Open Indo-Pacific Strategy.\u201d The references to \u201cfree\u201d and \u201copen\u201d are bound up with phony accusations that China is coercive and attempting to establish dominance, through which Washington has justified its own military build-up in the Indo-Pacific as have its major allies, Japan and Australia.<\/p>\n

Takaichi declared that regional states had to adapt to \u201cnew realities\u201d associated with \u201cgeopolitical competition.\u201d She provocatively raised the issue of the South China Sea, where the US has stoked longstanding territorial disputes between China and regional states, including Vietnam.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Takaichi signed a series of agreements with Vietnamese leaders, largely focussed on economic cooperation, but including strategic sectors such as critical minerals, of which Vietnam has substantial deposits.<\/p>\n

This is part of a broader push, with Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi scheduled to visit Indonesia and the Philippines next week, in a move that will agitate Beijing.<\/p>\n

As in Vietnam, the issues of energy security were formally a focus of discussions between Takaichi and Albanese. Japan is dependent on imports to meet its fuel requirements, as is Australia, with the latter having virtually no domestic refining capacity. The implications have been highlighted by the global fuel supply shocks resulting from the criminal US war against Iran.<\/p>\n

Canberra has pledged not to increase taxes on liquified natural gas, under conditions where 40 percent of Japan\u2019s LNG imports are from Australia. Japan supplies almost 7 percent of Australia\u2019s diesel. Takaichi and Albanese signed a vague \u201ccommitment to mutual energy security,\u201d which lamely concluded with an appeal to other regional states to ensure continued fuel flows, pointing to Canberra and Tokyo\u2019s vulnerabilities.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

The primary focus, however, was on the global military build-up, of which the attack on Iran is one component.<\/p>\n

In comments to the press after closed door meetings with Albanese, Takaichi said they had engaged in \u201cstrategic discussions on issues beginning with China.\u201d They had also canvassed \u201cissues of nuclear and missiles,\u201d North Korea and the Iran war, which both Australia and Japan have supported.<\/p>\n

Takaichi and Albanese hailed a deal finalised in April, under which Japan will supply 11 Mogami frigates, with the first three of the warships to be delivered in 2029.\u00a0<\/p>\n

On the Australian side, the purchase is part of a massive military build-up, centring on preparations for a US-led air and sea war in the Indo-Pacific against China. Australia\u2019s biannual 2026 National Defence Strategy, released by Labor last month, boasted that the Mogami frigates will boost the \u201clethality\u201d of the navy, noting that they have \u201ca range of up to 10,000 nautical miles,\u201d possess \u201ca 32\u2011cell vertical launch system\u201d and are \u201cfitted with surface\u2011to\u2011air missiles and anti\u2011ship missiles.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

For Tokyo, the deal is part of a growth of military exports, in defiance of the nominally pacifist post-World War II constitution. Last month, Takaichi effectively scuppered a decades-long ban on Japan exporting lethal weapons, with new guidelines approving the international sale of armaments including combat drones and missiles.<\/p>\n

The frigate deal is one element of a far broader deepening of defence ties between Australia and Japan, which are aiding one another\u2019s military build-ups.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The scope of collaborations was pointed to in a joint statement by Albanese and Takaichi on \u201cEnhanced Defence and Security Cooperation,\u201d spanning intelligence cooperation; \u201cCo-development and co-production of defence capabilities\u201d; \u201cTesting of new equipment, advanced weapons and emerging technologies\u201d; \u201cEnhanced training and exercises in all domains\u201d and more.<\/p>\n

The statement outlined the rapid deepening of such ties over the past several years, including a 2022 agreement to consult and collaborate on \u201cstrategic contingencies,\u201d and a deal the following year allowing for \u201creciprocal access\u201d for Japanese and Australian military forces to one another\u2019s facilities. That is a military alliance in all but name, which is instead described as a \u201cspecial strategic partnership.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to the frigate sale, last month Japan and Australia struck a deal to collaborate on the development of a fleet of Boeing MQ-28 Ghost Bats, an unmanned drone, which can fire medium range air-to-air missiles. Under the deal, Japanese troops are permitted to participate in live training exercises of the drones on Australian soil.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The April agreements were signed during a visit by Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles to Tokyo. According to the Japan Times, Marles stated that the focus of Australia and Japan\u2019s military-industrial collaboration was not only on drones, but also the development of long-range missiles.\u00a0<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

In comments to that publication, Marles raised the war against Iran and growing conflict in the Indo-Pacific, declaring: \u201cTo gain the levels of war stocks that our defence forces need \u2026 we are simply going to have to cooperate much more together in terms of co-production and co-sustainment.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

In his public remarks, Marles pointed to the frenzied pace of joint exercises between Japan and Australia, noting: \u201cNext month in Exercise Southern Jackaroo, around 300 Japanese infantry will be coming to Australia, to Queensland, to train with their Australian counterparts. In July, Japanese F\u201135s will be coming to the Northern Territory in Australia, again to train with Australian F-35s as part of Exercise Southern Cross. In August, through Exercise Yamasakura, about 100 Australian personnel, those who work in headquarters and planners, will be coming to Japan to participate in that exercise.\u201d<\/p>\n

Albanese and Takaichi were more discreet and said less than Marles, who in Tokyo had essentially blurted out that the whole thrust of the Australia-Japan partnership is to rapidly prepare for a war in Asia against China.<\/p>\n

That is the context of the other agreements struck by Albanese and Takaichi, including for expanded economic cooperation. It again references the need for an \u201copen\u201d Indo-Pacific, the US catch-cry against Beijing.<\/p>\n

There was also an agreement for cooperation on critical minerals, which are crucial to all areas of advanced production, including for military goods. Albanese and Takaichi raised the need for a \u201cdiversification of critical mineral supply chains,\u201d under conditions where China dominates the processing of rare earths.<\/p>\n

The statement outlined six projects which are receiving joint Australian-Japanese funding. The largest and only one currently operational is Lynas Rare Earths in Western Australia, which last year commenced the mining and refining of heavy rare earths in addition to its earlier extraction of light rare earths. The company operates a processing plant in Malaysia.<\/p>\n

Another, which is also being funded by the US, is aimed at developing \u201cgallium recovery at one of Alcoa\u2019s operating alumina refineries in Western Australia, for use in semiconductors, LEDs, and solar cells.\u201d Others are seeking to develop the \u201cproduction of high\u2011purity magnesium,\u201d acid\u2011grade fluorite and cobalt.<\/p>\n

While most of the projects are not operational, and the issues of processing capabilities within Australia and Japan are unresolved, the initiatives underscore a growing push to lessen reliance on Beijing\u2019s dominance of critical minerals, which can only be understood in the context of the war preparations.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Takaichi and Albanese are pressing ahead with a militarist program in the face of widespread opposition in both countries. In Japan, there have been large rallies opposing the attempt to revise the so-called pacifist clause of the constitution over recent weeks. Opinion polling in Australia has shown over 70 percent of the population oppose the US-led war against Iran, of which Albanese has been among the most enthusiastic supporters.<\/p>\n

The military build-ups in Australia and Japan underscore the reality that the eruption of American imperialism is only the sharpest expression of a descent into war by all of the major powers, amid a deepening crisis of the capitalist system.<\/p>\n

Sign up for the WSWS email newsletter<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and her Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese announced a further step-up in military relations…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":654770,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,44],"class_list":["post-654769","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/654769","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=654769"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/654769\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/654770"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=654769"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=654769"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=654769"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}