Japan yesterday vowed to bolster military ties with Australia, with Tokyo’s top diplomat saying that the “like-minded” partners must stick together to combat shared regional threats.
Japanese Minister of Foreign Affairs Yoko Kamikawa and Japanese Minister of Defense Minoru Kihara met their Australian counterparts at an old army fort outside Melbourne, striking deals on greater air force cooperation and expanded military exercises.
They also agreed to jointly help the Philippine Coast Guard, which is in a tussle with Chinese ships in the South China Sea.
Photo:Reuter
“Amidst the increasingly difficult security environment in the Indo-Pacific, we need to constantly raise Japan-Australia security cooperation to a new height,” Kamikawa said after the meeting, touting a “like-minded partnership.”
China’s growing economic and military clout in the Asia-Pacific region — and its assertiveness in territorial disputes — has rattled the US and allies such as Japan and Australia.
Tokyo has in the past few weeks accused China of deliberately sailing a naval ship through its waters and flying a surveillance plane into its air space.
Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs Penny Wong (黃英賢) said that the meeting raised “serious concerns” about recent “incursions” into Japanese territory.
The meeting produced agreements for Japan and Australia to boost air force cooperation.
Japan’s Amphibious Rapid Deployment Brigade could soon take part in US Marines rotations based in Australia’s key northern base near Darwin.
Kihara said that Japan was considering whether its fleet of F-35 stealth jets could be deployed to Australian air fields, but said an agreement on this was yet to be struck.
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon yesterday morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan from tomorrow to Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was approximately 950km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, the CWA said. It is expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, it said. The agency said it could issue a sea warning in the early hours of today and a land warning in the afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving at
UPDATED FORECAST: The warning covered areas of Pingtung County and Hengchun Peninsula, while a sea warning covering the southern Taiwan Strait was amended The Central Weather Administration (CWA) at 5:30pm yesterday issued a land warning for Typhoon Usagi as the storm approached Taiwan from the south after passing over the Philippines. As of 5pm, Usagi was 420km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost tip, with an average radius of 150km, the CWA said. The land warning covered areas of Pingtung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春), and came with an amended sea warning, updating a warning issued yesterday morning to cover the southern part of the Taiwan Strait. No local governments had announced any class or office closures as of press time last night. The typhoon
At least 35 people were killed and dozens more injured when a man plowed his car into pedestrians exercising around a sports center in the southern Chinese city of Zhuhai on Monday night. Footage showing bodies lying on the pavement appeared on social media in the hours after the crash, but had vanished by early Tuesday morning, and local police reported only “injuries.” It took officials nearly 24 hours to reveal that dozens had died — in one of the country’s deadliest incidents in years. China heavily monitors social media platforms, where it is common for words and topics deemed
Typhoon Usagi yesterday had weakened into a tropical storm, but a land warning issued by the Central Weather Administration (CWA) was still in effect in four areas in southern Taiwan. As of 5pm yesterday, Tropical Storm Usagi was over waters 120km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), the southernmost tip of Taiwan proper, and was moving north at 9kph, CWA data showed. The storm was expected to veer northeast later yesterday. It had maximum sustained winds of 101kph, with gusts of up to 126kph, the data showed. The CWA urged residents of Kaohsiung, Pingtung County, Taitung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春) to remain alert to
RSS