{"id":710779,"date":"2026-06-02T17:22:21","date_gmt":"2026-06-02T17:22:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/710779\/"},"modified":"2026-06-02T17:22:21","modified_gmt":"2026-06-02T17:22:21","slug":"how-pacific-islands-can-gain-from-australia-japan-ties","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/710779\/","title":{"rendered":"How Pacific islands can gain from Australia-Japan ties"},"content":{"rendered":"

In their meeting on May 4 in Canberra, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and his Japanese counterpart, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi,\u00a0agreed to prioriti<\/a>ze\u00a0a range of issues including supply chains, energy, critical minerals, trade and security.<\/p>\n

Under the framework of the Joint Declaration on Economic Security Cooperation, the leaders also\u00a0pledged to support<\/a>\u00a0Pacific island countries (PICs) to combat money laundering through capacity-building initiatives. This should be seen by PICs as a positive development, as the crime remains one of the\u00a0key challenges in the region<\/a>.<\/p>\n

However, climate change, which is recognised by the Pacific\u2019s small island states\u00a0as their single largest security threat,<\/a>\u00a0was not on the agenda.<\/p>\n

The implicit identification of China as a threat to regional stability will displease some Pacific Island nations and perhaps encourage others. In all, however, strengthening Australia-Japan ties is overwhelmingly positive for a disparate region.<\/p>\n

Multilateralism is central to the diplomatic and economic functioning of the island nations. In light of the US\u2019s repudiation of international institutions and China\u2019s increasingly aggressive acts, its decline is cause for alarm. North Korean missiles flying over Japan and Chinese aircraft buzzing foreign planes may feel far from, say, Port Moresby. But Pacific island governments notice, register and are planning for this more disputatious era.<\/p>\n

Chinese influence in the Pacific Island countries is well documented; its economic and security cooperation initiatives in the region have surged in recent decades. Solomon Islands is closely aligned with China. Kiribati has welcomed\u00a0Chinese funding for airstrip upgrades<\/a>, seen by some analysts as evidence of grey-zone military tactics. Luganville Wharf on Vanuatu may soon\u00a0serve a similar \u201cdual-use\u201d purpose<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 for Chinese commercial and military vessels alike.<\/p>\n

The Australian government is well aware of these investments (or encroachments, depending on who you ask). For its part, Japan\u2019s Takaichi government is pushing itself to step up across the islands, adding hard capabilities to its energetic diplomatic efforts.<\/p>\n

In February this year, Defence Minister Shinjiro Koizumi\u00a0welcomed 28 countries to Tokyo<\/a>\u00a0for the third Japan-Pacific Islands Defense Dialogue. Agreements were made with Papua New Guinea, Tonga and Fiji covering maritime security and disaster relief. Koizumi has been clear that the global and regional security environment is deteriorating and that Japan is sharpening its military capabilities and partnerships in response.<\/p>\n

Under Koizumi, Japan\u2019s defense budget will now\u00a0exceed 9 trillion yen<\/a>\u00a0(around US$56 billion), closing in on the 2% of GDP target well ahead of schedule. Self-defense is the priority, but self-defense will come, in part, in the form of stronger alliances across the Indo-Pacific.<\/p>\n

Koizumi\u2019s call for the \u201cautonomy\u201d of the Pacific island countries aligns with this approach and serves as a clear rebuke to China. Japan\u2019s alternative pitch is the preservation of national sovereignty with Tokyo serving as a long-term security partner. This is the Free and Open Indo-Pacific (FOIP) way, as it were. Now in its tenth year but updated for the current circumstances,\u00a0Japan\u2019s FOIP vision<\/a>\u00a0is based on freedom of navigation and trade, and the preservation of national sovereignty.<\/p>\n

The Albanese government has faced diplomatic setbacks in the Pacific islands, not least the\u00a0failure of a security and climate pact<\/a>\u00a0with Vanuatu in 2025. (A revised version of the Nakamal Agreement was\u00a0approved by Vanuatu\u2019s cabinet in May 2026<\/a>, but only after explicit language limiting China\u2019s security and investment role in the country was stripped out.)<\/p>\n

Australia is sometimes seen as \u201cother\u201d on the islands or too close a partner of the United States. Japan\u2019s renewed focus on the islands, therefore, will be welcome.<\/p>\n

As Japan-Australia collaboration on global challenges intensifies, this will have positive knock-on effects on Pacific security.<\/p>\n

For example, on April 18, Australia\u00a0signed contracts for 11 of Japan\u2019s Mogami-class frigates<\/a>\u00a0in a deal worth A$10 billion (US$7 billion). This acquisition will bolster the Royal Australian Navy. The frigates, to be built by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, will have a range of up to 10,000 nautical miles \u2014 a gamechanger for Australia\u2019s efforts to protect the Pacific islands\u2019 maritime sovereignty.<\/p>\n

The deal was followed by Prime Minister Takaichi\u2019s overhauling of defence export regulations. Now, Japan\u2019s firms will be able to\u00a0sell lethal weaponry<\/a>\u00a0to countries with which it holds defense equipment and technology transfer agreements, including Australia and New Zealand. Increased exports and improved interoperability with Japan\u2019s Self-Defense Forces will be a plus for regional security and stability.<\/p>\n

In tandem with defense export reform, Japan\u2019s official security assistance (OSA) budget for 2026 has been\u00a0doubled to 18.1 billion yen<\/a>\u00a0(A$175 million). PNG and Tonga were named priority recipients for the 2025-2026 period. Dual-use assets for disaster response and maritime infrastructure building have already been provided to PNG.<\/p>\n

Australian policy in the Pacific island countries has tended to focus on economic support. A record\u00a0A$2.2 billion worth of Official Development Assistance<\/a>\u00a0(ODA) was committed to the Pacific in the 2026-2027 budget. Climate funding has been generous for some island nations. But tools to preserve national sovereignty have been constabulary- and maritime policing-oriented. For example, Australia\u2019s Pacific Maritime Security Program, under which 12 Pacific island countries plus Timor-Leste have been gifted Guardian-class patrol boats, is a notable success. In terms of hardware, Japan is now well placed to add lethal weapons to the foundations of regional security.<\/p>\n

Pacific island countries are too small \u2014 economically, militarily and diplomatically, with very limited resources and capacity \u2014 to explicitly take sides in the superpower rivalry. They should be cautious about middle power alignment, too. That said, external interests that act in good faith to preserve, not erode, national sovereignty should be welcomed. To that end, Australian economic aid and Japan\u2019s more defense-edged approach are opportunities to be exploited.<\/p>\n

The concept of rowing between the reefs \u2014 finding a path through choppy geopolitical waters without cleaving to one side of a conflict \u2014 has become somewhat of a clich\u00e9 in international affairs. But it is surely the best way for Pacific island countries to preserve national sovereignty and secure prosperity in an era of escalating confrontation.<\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/p>\n

Moses Sakai is resident Vasey fellow at the Pacific Forum, a foreign policy think tank based in Hawai\u2019i. He was previously a research dellow at PNG National Research Institute and a visiting scholar on US foreign policy at the University of Delaware.<\/p>\n

Originally published by the Development Policy Centre<\/a>\u00a0housed in the\u00a0Crawford School of Public Policy<\/a>\u00a0at\u00a0The Australian National University<\/a>, this article is republished with permission.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In their meeting on May 4 in Canberra, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and his Japanese counterpart, Prime…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":710780,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,345525,941,29882,44,1721,345526],"class_list":["post-710779","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-china-pacific","tag-japan","tag-money-laundering","tag-news","tag-opinion","tag-pacific-island-countries"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/710779","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=710779"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/710779\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/710780"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=710779"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=710779"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=710779"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}