The leaders of Australia and Japan have signed a “historic” defence treaty during a virtual summit between Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and his Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida on Thursday. The move to strengthen ties comes as China increases its military and economic outreach in the Indo-Pacific region.

The landmark Reciprocal Access Agreement between Australia and Japan (Australia-Japan RAA) was signed to set out a framework for the two countries' defense forces to cooperate with each other and contribute to regional stability.

According to a joint statement on Japan and Australia defence minister’s meeting, the Australia-Japan RAA will establish standing arrangements for the Australian Defence Force and the Japan Self-Defense Forces to facilitate cooperative activities such as joint exercises and disaster relief operations, including those of greater scale and complexity, while improving the interoperability and capability of the two countries’ forces.

The countries also discussed opportunities to strengthen partnerships on clean energy, critical technologies, and materials.

"This treaty will be a statement of our two nations' commitment to work together in meeting the shared strategic security challenges we face and to contribute to a secure and stable Indo-Pacific," Morrison said in the statement.

"Our cooperation also includes an expanding agenda for the Quad with India and the United States, and our shared technology-led approach to reducing carbon emissions," Morrison said.

"Japan-Australia relations will be further enhanced, and towards the realisation of a free and open Indo-Pacific, we will reaffirm our cooperation," Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said on Wednesday.

In a briefing on Wednesday, China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said, "State-to-state exchanges and cooperation should be conducive to enhancing mutual understanding and trust among countries in the region and safeguarding regional peace and stability, rather than targeting or undermining the interests of any third party.”

The spokesman said that the Pacific Ocean is vast enough for the common development of countries in the region. He added that China hopes that the Pacific will be an ocean of peace, not a place to make waves.

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