Japan, Australia to expand defense ties for regional order

By MARI YAMAGUCHI
Associated Press

TOKYO (AP) — Japan and Australia’s defense ministers have vowed to step up their ties to support democratic values in the Indo-Pacific region and agreed to work more closely with Southeast Asia and the Pacific island nations where China is seeking to expand its influence. Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles and his Japanese counterpart, Nobuo Kishi, said after meeting on Wednesday that region-wide cooperation is necessary to maintain and strengthen the rules-based order in the Indo-Pacific, where there is growing fear that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine may embolden China to increase its assertiveness. The ministers’ talks came just three days after they met in Singapore on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue security forum.