Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will meet Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida in Perth this Saturday to finalise the new declaration and discuss a “reciprocal access” agreement that will lead to more joint defence operations.
The Japanese ambassador to Australia,Shingo Yamagami,named the Chinese activities in the region as a reason for updating the security declaration,which was announced by prime ministers John Howard and Shinzo Abe in Tokyo in 2007.
Yamagami said China was making “unilateral attempts to change the status quo” in the East China Sea and the South China Sea as serious concerns for the security of the region.
“The peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait is vital to the security of Japan.”
Shingo Yamagami,the Japanese ambassador to Australia
“The peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait is not only vital to the security of Japan,but also to the stability of the international community,” he said.
“In light of this changing security environment,Japan and Australia intends to upgrade our security co-operation.
“A new security co-operation declaration,to be updated from the one signed in 2007,is intended to outline the direction for Japan-Australia security relations for the next decade.”