Japan and Australia push for defence pact that China views as a ‘threat to peace’
Diplomats are putting the finishing touches to the proposed defence pact, which would be the first of its kind for Japan and would make Australia Tokyo’s closest military partner after the United States
The prime ministers of Japan and Australia toured a military training camp outside Tokyo on Thursday, as the two countries seek to bolster defence ties in the face of the North Korean crisis.
Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe viewed a PAC-3 missile interceptor at a Japan Ground Self-Defence Force camp in Funabashi city.
The two leaders also got inside a Bushmaster armoured vehicle, which was developed in Australia and adopted by Japan’s military in 2014.
Turnbull and Abe are hoping to thrash out a security agreement on joint defence operations and exercises, with one eye also on China as it expands its naval ambitions.
Diplomats are putting the finishing touches to the proposed defence pact, which would be the first of its kind for Japan and would make Australia Tokyo’s closest military partner after the United States.
