Japan-Australia Defence Ministerial Meeting

On October 19th, 2020, Minister of Defense Kishi held a meeting with Australian Minister for Defence, Senator Linda Reynolds at the Ministry of Defense (MOD) as part of maintaining close bilateral defence and security ties in support of an Indo-Pacific region that is free, open, secure, inclusive, and prosperous.

This meeting was the first time the Ministers met face-to-face in Ichigaya since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Undertaking such a meeting at this challenging time is testament to the value and strength of the Japan-Australia Special Strategic Partnership.

The Ministers held a productive discussion on further promoting and materializing defense cooperation between the two countries and issued the Japan-Australia Defense Ministers’ Joint Statement on Advancing Defence Cooperation.

Please go to the link below for the joint statement:
https://www.mod.go.jp/en/d_act/exc/area/docs/2020/20201019_j-aus-en.html

During the meeting, the Ministers exchanged views on regional affairs, including the East China Sea, the South China Sea, and North Korea.

Concerning regional situations in the East China Sea and the South China Sea, the Ministers issued a clear message that they strongly oppose any attempts to unilaterally change the status quo by coercion and expressed their intent to continue coordinating closely.

The two leaders reaffirmed their commitment to efforts to achieve the complete, verifiable, and irreversible dismantlement of all of North Korea’s nuclear weapons, other weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missiles of all ranges and to cooperate closely on warning and surveillance activities against illicit ship-to-ship transfers involving North Korean vessels.

The Ministers also concurred to continue to exchange views including by:

• sharing lessons learned from HA/DR operations during the COVID-19 pandemic;
• exploring new opportunities for capacity building with like-minded partners to build regional resilience;
• sharing information and exchanging views on reinforcing the rules-based international order, including working together to counter disinformation in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Ministers also confirmed the importance of further close collaboration between the Japan Self-Defense Forces (JSDF) and the Australian Defence Force (ADF) in the Indo-Pacific region and instructed their officials to commence necessary coordination to create a framework to protect ADF assets by the SDF personnel under Article 95-2 of the SDF Law.

Australia is one of Japan’s special strategic partners in the region. The MOD/JSDF intends to further deepen defense cooperation and exchange between the two countries in order to maintain and reinforce a free and open Indo-Pacific.