Christian Le Miere

Opinion | Japan’s defence pact with Australia reflects its shifting military posture as concerns over China grow

Tokyo is building up its military capabilities in a way it has not done for 75 years. US allies are, meanwhile, deepening ties with each other and forging new defence relationships

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Japan’s Izumo-class aircraft carrier seen in the Indian Ocean on October 18, 2021. The multipurpose destroyer was developed as part of Japan’s ongoing military expansion. Photo: Captain Daniel Glazier

Christian Le Miere

Published: 8:45am, 19 Jan 2022

The signing of the Reciprocal Access Agreement (RAA) between Japan and Australia this month was historic. It was the first time in more than 60 years that Tokyo signed a treaty that would allow foreign forces to access its territory.

Although the agreement is a far cry from permitting the stationing of Australian forces on Japanese territory, it does lay out the intricate rules governing the conduct and presence of visiting troops, from the validity of identification documents to the taxes and duties they must pay.

In essence, it streamlines the process of allowing Australian vessels, aircraft, vehicles and troops into Japan (and vice versa) and makes it easier for the two countries to engage in joint exercises and military cooperation.

The agreement is the latest step in Japan’s decades-long process of “normalising” its military posture. But it also underlines that the US post-war alliance system in East Asia is expanding and its sinews are thickening.

Japan’s “normalisation” began just after the Cold War. The country’s military, the deliberately-named Self-Defence Forces (SDF), has long been constrained by the post-war constitution, which forbids the maintenance of offensive military capabilities.

But with the fall of the Soviet Union and growing concerns in Tokyo first over North Korea’s ballistic missile capabilities and latterly over China’s rise, that purely defensive posture has begun to change, with shifts in the country’s legislation, deployments, procurement policies, budgeting and alliances.