The primary objective of the security agreement between Australia and Japan is to prevent the military rise of China
Australia and Japan agreed to share more sensitive information and deepen military cooperation after signing a security pact aimed at countering China’s military rise.
Prime Ministers Fumio Quesida and Anthony Albanese signed the agreement in the western Australian city of Perth, which amended a 15-year-old agreement still in the age of terrorism and arms proliferation, AFP reports.
Australian officials said that under the treaty, the two countries agreed to jointly train military forces in northern Australia and to “expand and enhance defense cooperation and intelligence sharing”.
Without mentioning China or North Korea by name, Kahida said the deal was in response to an “increasingly difficult strategic environment”.
Japan and Australia also have advanced technology, but few agents
Neither Australia nor Japan has the foreign intelligence armies and foreign informants necessary to play in the major tournaments of global espionage.
But experts add that both countries have very advanced technology when it comes to electronic eavesdropping and high-tech satellites.
Wakefield, director of the Australian Institute of International Affairs, said the deal could have broader ramifications as it could set a model for Japan to speed up intelligence relations with countries like Britain.
Some see the deal as another step toward Japan’s joining the powerful Five Eyes alliance between Australia, Britain, Canada, New Zealand and the United States.
