Japan will deploy troops for joint training with Australian and United States forces in northern Australia, the countries’ defense ministers said as they expressed concern about a spate of confrontations with the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) increasingly assertive military.
Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles hosted Japanese Defense Minister Gen Nakatani and U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin for talks in Darwin in mid-November 2024.
The ministers announced amphibious training among Australia, Japan and the U.S. Marine Rotational Force beginning with the multilateral Exercise Talisman Sabre in mid-2025. Australia will also join Exercise Orient Shield in Japan for the first time in 2025.
A joint statement reiterated “serious concern” about destabilizing actions in the East and South China seas, including “dangerous conduct” by the PRC’s People’s Liberation Army against Philippine and other vessels from the region. The PRC claims almost all of the South China Sea as its territory and has disparaged an international tribunal’s 2016 ruling under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea that Beijing’s claims to the global trade route have no legal basis.
The ministers also emphasized the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) claims self-governed Taiwan as its territory and threatens to annex it by force. The CCP has stepped up its illegal, coercive, aggressive and deceptive actions, including frequent military drills around Taiwan.
Marles has said that Australia and Japan want to build greater familiarity between their forces. One of the “obvious opportunities” is for Japan to participate in activities during the U.S. Marines’ rotation in Australia.
“Having a more forward-leaning opportunity for greater training with Japan and the U.S. together is a really fantastic opportunity,” he said.
Marles said the decision is about building “the best relationships possible with like-minded countries, with our friends and with our allies.”
