TOKYO: apanese and Australian ministers met Friday in Tokyo and agreed to deepen defense ties, days after Beijing hosted a massive military parade.
Japan is strengthening cooperation with US allies in the Asia-Pacific region that, like Tokyo, are involved in territorial disputes with China.
The bilateral meeting of foreign and defense ministers follows the Beijing military parade which was attended by leaders including Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korea’s Kim Jong Un.
Analysts say the line-up was Chinese President Xi Jinping’s vision of a new world order, sidelining the United States.
“Reaffirming the importance of working together to prevent unilateral changes to the status quo by force, we agreed to strengthen cooperation,” Japanese defense minister Gen Nakatani said after the Tokyo talks.
