The United States and Australia on Tuesday invited the Japanese military to deploy rotating forces to Australia, pledging to present a united front against China’s military ambitions.
“What is really important is that we are doing this to create balance in our region, involving other countries in the region, and we look forward to having more exchanges with Japan”Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles told reporters.
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“We are going to Japan at the end of the week and we will invite Japan to participate in more exercises with Australia and the United States”added Richard Marles, during a press conference bringing together the Australian and American Ministers of Defense and Foreign Affairs, following discussions in Washington.
US Defense Minister Lloyd Austin said the allies wanted Japan to participate in joint operations in Australia, where the United States has been deploying some 2,000 Marines in Darwin (north) since 2012 on six-month rotations.
The Australian Defense and Foreign Ministers also told the press that they had agreed in Washington to strengthen military interactions with the United States. The head of the Pentagon specified that the United States and Australia had agreed to increase rotations of bombers, fighters, soldiers of the US Army and Navy. “We have decided to enhance trilateral defense cooperation and invite Japan to join our defense posture initiatives in Australia“, he said.
Japan has sought in recent years to strengthen cooperation with Australia, but defense relations are more sensitive, due to Tokyo’s official pacifism since World War II.
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