The United States is backing Japan’s entry into the Aukus security pact, with analysts calling it a long-overdue move to harness Tokyo’s advanced defence technology and bolster Western military cooperation with a key ally in the Indo-Pacific.
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Quoting an unpublished US State Department report to Congress, Bloomberg reported on Thursday that Washington had a “positive assessment” of Japan joining the trilateral alliance, which was formed in 2021 between the US, Britain and Australia.
Pillar One of the present arrangement is focused on Australia acquiring nuclear-powered attack submarines and the stationing of both US and British nuclear submarines in Australia.
The State Department report says Japan has “expressed interest” in a range of ongoing security projects related to Pillar Two of the pact, which is designed to promote collaboration in several key areas: undersea capabilities, quantum technologies, artificial intelligence and autonomy, advanced cyber, hypersonic and counter-hypersonic capabilities and electronic warfare.
“Assuming this report is accurate, I would think this is a logical next step and, if anything, the surprise is that it has actually taken so long,” said Robert R. Eldridge, founder and president of The Eldridge Think Tank and a director of the Hawaii-based Global Risk Mitigation Foundation.
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“I think it is also very likely that Japan looks at it the same way, that no country can have all the technology and insight to allow it to do everything on its own,” he told This Week in Asia, adding that there were “clear advantages” for Tokyo joining Aukus in terms of interoperability of systems, lower co-development costs and potentially in sales of new systems.