Anxious Australia and jittery Japan deepen ‘quasi-alliance’ for an uneasy age

Japan’s prime minister touched down in Australia on Sunday with a set of shared anxieties – about Trump, China and the fragility of supply chains that the two insular nations have long relied upon – to which she sought some small relief.By the time she departed, Sanae Takaichi and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese had signed an economic security pact, unlocked nearly US$1 billion in critical minerals funding and laid the groundwork for what observers describe as the most comprehensive defence arrangement the two have ever forged.The centrepiece of her three-day visit was the Australia-Japan-joint-declaration-on-economic-security-cooperation" class="entity-link entity-event" data-entity-id="122851" data-entity-type="event">Australia-Japan Joint Declaration on Economic Security Cooperation, which commits both governments to coordinating responses to economic coercion: a provision analysts say is aimed squarely at Beijing and Washington alike.Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese exchange documents during a signing ceremony for their Joint Declaration on Economic Security Cooperation on Monday. Photo: AFPUnder the agreement, Canberra has committed up to A$1.3 billion (US$935.8 million) in support for critical minerals projects with Japanese involvement, potentially supplying resources including nickel, graphite and rare earths to Tokyo.