Japan Emerges as Key Player in AUKUS Alliance

The AUKUS security alliance, consisting of the U.S., U.K., and Australia, announced on the 8th (local time) that it is considering collaboration with Japan in advanced technology fields. AUKUS, a security partnership between English-speaking countries, is expanding by involving Japan in countering China. Japan, which also participates in the multi-national security consultation body ‘Quad’ with the U.S., Australia, and India, emerges as a ‘key player’ in the U.S.-led security alliance.

“We recognize Japan’s strengths and the close bilateral defense cooperation relationships between Japan and the AUKUS countries and are considering cooperation on the AUKUS ‘Pillar 2’ advanced capabilities project,” the defense ministers of the AUKUS countries said in a joint statement on the 8th (local time).

AUKUS is composed of two pillars: ‘Pillar 1,’ where the U.S. and U.K. provide Australia with nuclear-powered submarines, and ‘Pillar 2,’ where they cooperate in advanced technology fields and capabilities such as artificial intelligence (AI), hypersonic, and quantum technology. AUKUS has stated that it will not break the framework of a trilateral alliance for Pillar 1, but for Pillar 2, it has shown a stance that it could expand the cooperating countries.

“The AUKUS countries have developed principles and models to involve other cooperating countries in individual Pillar 2 projects and will start discussions with promising cooperating countries in 2024 in areas where they can contribute to and benefit from this historic task,” the three countries said in a joint statement.

The three countries explained that they would consider their respective technological and financial capabilities, industrial competitiveness, the ability to protect sensitive data and information adequately, and the impact on peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region when identifying areas where they can cooperate with other countries. Foreign media have mentioned New Zealand, Canada, and South Korea as countries that could cooperate with AUKUS and Japan.

The firm will of the Biden administration seems to be reflected in Japan’s participation in AUKUS, and the Financial Times reported that President Biden, U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel, and State Department Deputy Secretary Kurt Campbell proposed cooperation with Japan. At the same time, the U.K. and Australia showed that it was too early to add cooperating countries. This announcement came just before Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s state visit to the U.S. and the U.S.-Japan summit plans to upgrade the alliance to the most enormous scale since the mutual defense treaty was signed in 1960.