Japan and Australia agree on military pact with eye on China’s influence in Indo-Pacific
- When ratified, it will be the first defence agreement for Tokyo since it signed a status of forces accord with Washington in 1960
- The pact is seen as a way for Japan to ‘diversify its security capabilities’ away from the US
The Reciprocal Access Agreement (RAA) is widely perceived as another effort to unite like-minded governments in the region to counter China’s growing influence and ambitions in the Indo-Pacific. It comes weeks after foreign ministers of the Quad alliance – to which Japan and Australia belong, along with the US and India – met in Tokyo.
John Blaxland, a former Australian intelligence officer who is now a professor of international security and intelligence studies at the Australian National University, told Bloomberg that the arrangement was aimed at mitigating “the risks of a more adventurous China”.
“There is a clear overlap of interests when it comes to managing maritime security, but Australia will still be mindful it may be seen as leading attempts to gang up against Beijing,” he said, in reference to strained ties between Canberra and Beijing.
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