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Japan Troops to Train With US Forces in Northern Australia

By Ben Westcott
A Japan Ground Self-Defense Force (JGSDF) Type 10 main battle tank fires ammunition during a live fire exercise at JGSDF's training grounds in the East Fuji Maneuver Area in Gotemba, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan, on Sunday, May 26, 2024. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol may be heading to the US in the next few months, possibly to hold a summit with President Joe Biden that will build on an unprecedented security meeting the three had about a year ago, according to reports from Kyodo News of Japan and other media. Photographer: Kiyoshi Ota/Bloomberg (Kiyoshi Ota/Bloomberg)

(Bloomberg) -- Japanese troops will regularly deploy to train alongside US rotational forces in Australia’s north starting from 2025, the latest move by the three nations to strengthen their security ties in the face of growing strategic competition with China.

US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin held a meeting with Japan’s Defense Minister Gen Nakatani and Australia’s Defence Minister Richard Marles in Darwin, northern Australia, on Sunday.

“It is a very important statement to the region and to the world about the commitment that our three countries have in working with each other,” Marles said at a press conference announcing the decision on Sunday. The deployments are expected to begin from next year, according to the Australian Broadcasting Corp.

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Marles, who is also Australia’s deputy prime minister, said Tokyo and Canberra had been looking at ways to utilize their reciprocal military access agreement which was signed by both nations in January 2022.

“One of the obvious opportunities was for Japan to participate in activities when the US marine rotation is in place in Darwin,” Marles said in an interview on Sky News on Sunday. He also said that Japan’s Amphibious Rapid Deployment Brigade had been invited to train with US and Australian forces.

The US has been strengthening its security arrangements with regional partners in the face of growing strategic competition with the Chinese government. In July, Austin signed an upgraded security agreement with Japan and South Korea, while the Aukus pact to supply Australia with nuclear-powered submarines by the 2030s has progressed in the US Congress.

Asked whether he expected the announcement to provoke the Chinese government, Marles said Australia would engage with the friends and allies it chooses.

“Ultimately this is a matter for Australia, Japan and the US in terms of their presence in Darwin with the marine rotation,” Marles said. “That’s the focus.”

(Updates with more details and comments)

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