Japan’s troops to train with US, Australian forces amid concerns over China

The joint amphibious training is announced after three countries express concerns about ‘dangerous conduct’ by the Chinese military.

Japan’s troops will participate in joint training with United States Marines and Australian forces in northern Australia next year, the defence ministers from the three countries have said, as they expressed concerns over the growing threat from the Chinese military.

A joint statement released on Sunday reiterated “serious concern” about destabilising actions in the East and South China seas, including “dangerous conduct” by the Chinese military against the Philippines and other vessels from the region.

Australia’s Defence Minister Richard Marles hosted his US and Japanese counterparts, Lloyd Austin and Gen Nakatani, for talks in Darwin city. They announced trilateral amphibious training between Australia, Japan and the US Marine rotational force in northern Australia from 2025, beginning with a multinational training activity called Exercise Talisman Sabre.

Australian Defence Minister Marles said the move to deploy troops for Darwin training was a “fantastic opportunity for our defence”.

When asked if the agreement would anger Beijing, Marles said the decision was about building “the best relationships possible with like-minded countries, with our friends and with our allies.”

Canberra will also join Exercise Orient Shield in Japan, a field training exercise between Japanese and US forces, for the first time next year.

About 2,000 US Marines have already been hosted in Darwin, the capital of the Northern Australian territory, for six months of the year due to rising concerns among the US and its allies over China’s growing military power in the Indo-Pacific region.

Peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait

The deployment of troops to Darwin also shares a special significance as it was the base for Allied forces in World War II and was heavily bombed by Japanese forces. Sunday’s trilateral meeting in Darwin was the 14th of its kind between the three allies.

The ministers also stressed the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait. China claims self-ruled Taiwan as its own territory and has stepped up military activity with frequent drills around the island.

Separately, US Defense Secretary Austin has said that Washington would provide the capabilities set out in the AUKUS (Australia, United Kingdom, US) deal for Australia to buy US nuclear submarines and develop a new class of nuclear-powered submarines with the US and the UK.

Australia, the US and the UK signed the AUKUS deal in 2021, including a joint effort to help the Australian military acquire nuclear-powered submarines, in an apparent attempt to counter China.

Austin added that the US Department of Defense was focused on “a smooth and effective transition” to President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming administration.

“I’m really proud of the things that this [current] administration has accomplished over the last four years, in terms of what we’ve done in this region to strengthen alliances and to work with countries that share the vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific,” Austin said.