US, Japan, and Australia Agree to Establish Defense Consultation Body... Joint Exercises to Expand

China's Yeomdu "Opposes Unilateral Status Quo Changes"
Cooperation Includes Sharing Missile Information with North Korea and Others

The defense ministers of the United States, Japan, and Australia agreed on the 17th to establish a trilateral defense consultative body to strengthen security cooperation.

Nakatani Gen, Japanese Minister of Defense

According to Japan's Ministry of Defense, U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, Japanese Defense Minister Kenta Nakatani, and Australian Minister for Defence Richard Marles held the 14th Trilateral Defense Ministers' Meeting in Darwin, northern Australia, and reached this agreement.

In a joint statement after the meeting, they expressed "serious concern over China's risky actions against Philippine vessels and other destabilizing behaviors in the East and South China Seas," stating that they "strongly oppose any unilateral attempts to change the status quo by force or coercion." They also emphasized "the peace and stability of the Taiwan Strait and called for a peaceful resolution of cross-strait issues."

The three ministers "strongly condemned North Korea's actions, including the intercontinental ballistic missile launch last October," and expressed concern over North Korea's deployment of troops to Russia. Furthermore, they stated, "We look forward to the success of the ASEAN Defense Ministers' Meeting-Plus (ADMM-Plus) to be held in Laos this week," and pledged to "strengthen engagement with Southeast Asian partners and cooperation with partners including Canada, France, Germany, India, New Zealand, and South Korea."

At this meeting, the three ministers agreed to establish the trilateral defense consultative body and expand joint exercises. Initially, Japan's Amphibious Rapid Deployment Brigade of the Ground Self-Defense Force will participate from next year in joint exercises conducted by the U.S. and Australia in Australia or the Indo-Pacific region, and Australia will also seek to participate in U.S.-Japan joint exercises held in Japan.

Additionally, the three countries agreed to strengthen cooperation in intelligence gathering and surveillance. Regarding this, Kyodo News reported that Japan plans to mutually dispatch liaison officers with Australia, coinciding with the launch of an integrated operations command in the 2024 fiscal year (April 2024 to March 2025) that will unify the command of the Ground, Maritime, and Air Self-Defense Forces. NHK explained that sharing missile launch information, keeping North Korea in mind, is also a target of cooperation.