Japan-Australia Relations: Friends But Not Allies
Abstract
The closeness of bilateral ties between Australia and Japan can be measured by frequency of mutual visits by their prime ministers. Japan s prime ministers have visited Australia at an average interval of 5 years between 1957 and 2002. Australian prime ministers have visited Japan at an average interval of 2.6 years between 1957 and 2003. It took 13 years between the visit by Prime Minister Robert Menzies in 1957 and the next visit by Prime Minister John Gorton in 1970. Since 1970, Australian visits to Japan became more frequent, at an average interval of 1.9 years. These high-level visits have focused attention at particular times, but ongoing contact between Japanese and Australian officials also occurs in bilateral and multilateral settings that attract less attention, but nevertheless provide a basis for concrete, working-level cooperation. The two countries also launched a major track-two diplomatic effort in 2001 under the co-chairmanship of Jeremy Ellis of the Australia-Japan Foundation and Minoru Murofushi of the Itoh Chu Corporation. The first meeting titled Australia-Japan Conference for the 21st Century issued a co-chairs statement that identified as their common interests continued engagement of the United States in East Asia and China s integration into the region as a constructive regional partner. In regard to sub-regional and transnational security issues, the statement also called for strengthening bilateral dialogue and cooperation to improve capacity to respond to crises. However, the bilateral partnership was aimed at reinvigorat(ing) multilateral processes in the region and globally. This emphasis on multilateralism can be observed in their proposals for both economic and security cooperation.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Oct 01, 2004
- Accession Number
- ADA627489
Entities
People
- Yoichiro Sato
Organizations
- Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies