Australia and Japan signed a security agreement on Saturday aimed at countering China’s growing military power, Agerpres reported with reference to the France-Presse agency.

During a visit to Australia, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida met with his counterpart Anthony Albanese in Perth to review the 15-year-old deal, struck at a time when jihadist attacks and arms proliferation were major concerns.

“This historic declaration sends a strong signal to the region of our strategic alignment,” said Anthony Albanese, welcoming the agreement signed by the two countries.

Without directly mentioning China and North Korea, the Japanese prime minister called the agreement a response to an “increasingly tough strategic environment.”

This is the first visit of the Prime Minister of Japan to Australia since 2018.

The two Pacific countries will focus, in particular, on the exchange of signals and geospatial information obtained from electronic eavesdropping satellites, or SIGINT (SIGnal INTelligence).

Neither country currently has extensive intelligence networks abroad, such as the US CIA or France’s DGSE.

Bryce Wakefield of the Australian Institute of International Affairs believes that Tokyo and Canberra still have sophisticated means of gathering information through the interception of communications.

The agreement could also serve, he said, as a model for Japan to develop deeper security ties with countries such as Great Britain.

Strengthening military and energy cooperation

The deal is also seen as the next step towards Japan joining the powerful so-called Five Eyes intelligence alliance between Australia, Great Britain, Canada, New Zealand and the United States.

But obstacles remain. In the past, closer cooperation has been hampered by old concerns about Tokyo’s ability to handle sensitive confidential documents and transmit them in complete security, AFP said.

Prime Ministers Kishida and Albanese promised to strengthen military and energy cooperation.

Japan is a major buyer of Australian gas and is also betting on hydrogen energy produced in Australia.

A security pact signed between Tokyo and Canberra in 2007, when Beijing was weaker militarily and less assertive in global relations, has also been strengthened.

Since Xi Jinping came to power, China has made its military one of the most powerful in the world and has amassed nuclear and ballistic arsenals.