This may get lost in the background noise, but if you are concerned about the rule of law, democratic governance and security in the Pacific, you would be hard pressed to find more important news than this;
Australia and Japan are set to sign a treaty to beef up defence and security cooperation at a virtual summit on Thursday, in the latest move to strengthen ties amid China's rising military power and economic clout in the Indo-Pacific region.
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the two leaders will sign a Reciprocal Access Agreement, which will for the first time set out a framework for the two countries' defence forces to cooperate with each other.
What do they bring to the table? Primarily, this sends a message of solidarity, but like the USA, these are nations that are primarily maritime and aerospace powers due to geography.
Looking just at their navies, if you combine their fleets they have (+/-) 28 submarines (6 AUS/22 JPN), 6 LHD/CVL/DDH (2 AUS/4 JPN), and 53 destroyers and frigates (11 AUS/42 JPN).
This is good. Good for them, good for the USA.
Everyone smile.
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