(17 Nov 2020) The prime ministers of Australia and Japan met Tuesday in Tokyo on Tuesday to bolster defense ties between the two U.S. allies to counter China's growing assertiveness in the Asia-Pacific region amid a transition in American leadership.
The two countries are close to concluding a Reciprocal Access Agreement, a legal framework to allow their troops to visit each other's countries and conduct training and joint operations.
Scott Morrison Morrison and Yoshihide Suga are to hold talks later Tuesday and may conclude the deal. They are also expected to discuss the coronavirus and the economy, Japanese officials said.
If signed, it will be Japan's first such agreement since the 1960 status of forces agreement with the United States, which set bases for about 50,000 American troops to operate in and around Japan under the Japan-U.S. security pact.
Japan is committed to maintain and deepen its 60-year-old alliance with the U.S. as the cornerstone of Japanese diplomacy and security, but has in recent years sought to complement its regional defense by stepping up cooperation with others, especially Australia, amid China's growing maritime activity that has spread from the East and South China seas and beyond.
Japan still sticks to self-defense and bans first strikes under its postwar pacifist constitution, but has bolstered its defense role and spending under former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
Despite its pacifist constitution, Japan's defense spending ranks among the world's top 10, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. Australia ranks among the top 15.

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