By Xiang Haoyu
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi lately paid an official visit to Australia and issued the Leaders Statement on Enhanced Defence and Security Cooperation with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, clearly stating that the two sides will advance a new round of upgraded defense and security cooperation. Takaichi also claimed Japan's "quasi-alliance" with Australia. Japan is attempting to turn Australia into a key springboard for further breaking through postwar military restrictions and projecting military power abroad. The spillover effects of this practice are undermining Asia-Pacific security and stability.
As early as March 2007, Japan and Australia signed the Japan-Australia Joint Declaration on Security Cooperation, establishing the "2+2" foreign and defense ministerial meeting mechanism. In July 2014, the two countries upgraded their bilateral relationship to a Special Strategic Partnership. In January 2022, they signed the Reciprocal Access Agreement (RAA), which provides a legal framework for the Japan Self-Defense Forces (JSDF) to conduct joint exercises, equipment deployment, and logistical support on Australian territory. This marked the institutionalization of military access and the establishment of a veritable "quasi-alliance." In December 2025, Japan and Australia established the Framework for Strategic Defense Coordination to strengthen policy alignment and intelligence sharing, further solidifying their coordination mechanisms.
Relying on these mechanisms, Japan and Australia have continuously escalated the frequency, scale, and combat-oriented nature of their joint military exercises. After the RAA officially entered into force in August 2023, the Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF) deployed two F-35 stealth fighter jets to Australia for the first time to conduct cross-regional combat drills. Since then, the two sides have regularly conducted highly sensitive exercises, such as amphibious landings, anti-submarine warfare, maritime blockades, and cyber defense, while simultaneously advancing personnel training, new equipment testing, and logistical support coordination.
Defense equipment export and technical cooperation are also critical components of Japan-Australia defense collaboration. In April this year, the two countries achieved a major breakthrough when Australia confirmed the procurement of 11 upgraded Mogami-class frigates from Japan. This marks the first time since World War II that Japan has realized the systematic export of lethal, main combat platforms under the guise of "joint development," representing the largest warship procurement order in the history of the Royal Australian Navy.
In recent years, Japan has gradually loosened its restrictions on weapons exports. Through this large order with Australia, Japan hopes to promote its military industry to "go global" and aims to establish a full-chain defense collaboration system encompassing technology sharing, joint production, and joint logistics support. By embedding its military standards, data link systems, and maintenance protocols into the Royal Australian Navy's main combat platforms, Japan is attempting to integrate Australia into its own military-industrial and defense ecosystem. This deep technical and equipment binding allows Japan to enhance its military presence and discourse power in the South Pacific through long-term maintenance and upgrade contracts.
Japan's active promotion of military cooperation with Australia harbors multiple strategic intentions. First, it aims to break through the pacifist Constitution and the "exclusively defense-oriented" principle. Under the pretext of defense cooperation, Japan frequently dispatches the JSDF overseas for high-intensity military exercises and exports offensive weapons platforms, fundamentally shifting its defense policy. Second, it seeks to transform from an economic power into a "political and military power." Dissatisfied with its "abnormal" status in international security, Japan attempts to leverage Australia's unique geography to extend its military tentacles to the South Pacific and Indian Ocean, rebuilding its military influence and seeking a leading role in regional security architecture. Third, it manufactures geopolitical confrontation for its own interests. Japan's cooperation with Australia is heavily colored by bloc confrontation. By introducing the logic of military confrontation into the Asia-Pacific, Japan attempts to intervene in regional hotspots and provoke antagonism to create pretexts for its own arms expansion.
The continuous upgrading of Japan-Australia defense cooperation is not the "maintenance of regional stability" that Japan claims, but a key step for Japan to break free from postwar constraints and reshape the Asia-Pacific military landscape. In the face of Japan's continuous military power projection and influence expansion, regional countries should remain vigilant and jointly safeguard the hard-won peace, stability, and prosperity of the region.
(The author is from the Department for Asia-Pacific Studies of the China Institute of International Studies)