Japanese, U.S., Australian Defense Chiefs Plan to Set Up New Defense Framework, Aiming for Closer Ties

By Naohiro Tamura / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer

7:00 JST, November 19, 2024

DARWIN, Australia — The defense chiefs of Japan, the United States and Australia confirmed Sunday at their meeting in Darwin, Australia, that the three countries will steadily promote defense cooperation, and later announced plans for a new trilateral defense framework.

Defense Minister Gen Nakatani, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles are aiming to continuously strengthen defense cooperation in reaction to China’s maritime expansion in the Indo-Pacific region.

After the meeting, the defense chiefs announced in their joint statement that the three countries plan to establish the “Trilateral Defense Consultations” framework for coordinating security policies.

The new framework will likely facilitate regular meetings of the three countries’ ministers and talks by working-level officials from their defense departments.

The three countries will also conduct new war games and make cooperation among the Self-Defense Forces and the U.S. and Australian militaries more systematic.

The joint statement includes a policy to hold every year joints drills by Japan, the United States and Australia, in which the SDF’s Amphibious Rapid Deployment Brigade will take part. The brigade, part of the Ground Self-Defense Force, is tasked with recapturing remote islands if they are taken by force.

The joint statement also mentioned that the three countries will share information related to ballistic missiles.

At a joint press conference, Nakatani said, “We will use the new [framework] to closely cooperate at all levels of our defense authorities.”