Japan, Australia ink security pact with eye on China

PERTH, Australia: Australia and Japan agreed to share sensitive intelligence and deepen defence cooperation on Saturday, signing a security pact to counter China´s military rise.

Prime ministers Fumio Kishida and Anthony Albanese inked the accord in the Western Australian city of Perth, revamping a dusty 15-year-old accord drafted when terrorism and weapons proliferation were the overriding concerns.

Under the deal, the countries´ defence forces will train together in Northern Australia, and “expand and strengthen cooperation across defence, intelligence sharing” and a raft of other areas, Australian officials said.

“This landmark declaration sends a strong signal to the region of our strategic alignment”, said Albanese, hailing the “Joint Declaration on Security Cooperation”.

Kishida said the agreement was a response to an “increasingly harsh strategic environment”, without citing China or North Korea by name.

Neither Australia nor Japan has the ranks of overseas intelligence operatives and foreign informants needed to play in the major leagues of global espionage