Photo/Illutration Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi, right, and Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi attend a video conference with Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne and Australian Defense Minister Peter Dutton at the Foreign Ministry in Tokyo on June 9. (Pool via AP)

Australian ships will be guaranteed protection if they request it from Japan's Self-Defense Forces under an agreement clinched June 9 that would involve Tokyo resorting to national security legislation passed by the previous administration.

This would make Australia the second nation after the United States to be afforded such protection from Japan.

Agreement on this was reached during a video conference between the foreign and defense ministers of the two countries.

Japan was represented by Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi and Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi, while the respective Australian counterparts were Marise Payne and Peter Dutton.

The two sides confirmed that SDF personnel will provide protection if a request is made by Australia.

After the meeting, Kishi told reporters that the preparations for such an eventuality had now been put in place.

Controversial national security legislation that took effect in 2016 included revisions to the SDF Law that allow SDF members to protect U.S. naval ships. From the outset of Diet deliberations,  Australia was considered a likely future candidate if the need arises.

Japan and Australia have strengthened cooperative efforts in recent years in part to deal with maritime advances by China in the East China and South China seas. The offer of protection to Australian naval ships reflects the two countries' position that they increasingly regard each other as quasi-allies.

Once a request for protection is received from Australia, the National Security Council will decide whether to give it. The law does not require the government to report to the Diet about any expansion of the protection duties.

The two sides also agreed during the June 9 video conference to accelerate discussions to make it easier to visit each other during joint training exercises between Japan and Australia.

The two sides issued a joint statement after the meeting that for the first time named China as a nation of concern due to its activities in the South China Sea.

The statement said Japan and Australia “express our objections to China’s maritime claims and activities that are inconsistent with the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).”

It also touched upon the “the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.”

Under the revised SDF Law, protection of U.S. naval ships and aircraft has mainly been conducted during joint training exercises. In 2020, there were 25 instances, the largest annual number to date.

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