On May 3, 2024, the defense ministers of the United States (USA), Australia, Japan and the Philippines met in Hawaii for the second round of further quadrennial negotiations.[1] The first round took place in Singapore in June 2023 and the parties agreed to strengthen security cooperation.
At a press conference after the meeting, U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin stated that all four countries have a vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific and are especially committed to helping the defense goals of the Philippines.[2] Australian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense Richard Marles said that during these talks they discussed the status of the existing Mutual Access Agreements (Dec) and the increase in the number of defense exercises between the four countries. On the other hand, Japanese Defense Minister Minoru Kihara said that his country is continuing negotiations with the Philippines on the signing of the RAA, and also called for deepening bilateral and quadrennial joint exercises.[3]
In a joint statement on the meeting, the defense chiefs of the four countries expressed serious concerns due to the critical geopolitical atmosphere in the Asia-Pacific and stressed the need to maintain the status quo in the seas. As part of these military coalitions, which are mainly aimed at deterring China, the four countries plan to continue joint naval patrols in the South China Sea together with the Philippines. As a matter of fact, after the recent tensions between China and the Philippines in the South China Sea, the United States has begun to further expand its military coalitions in the Asia Pacific Dec. In this context, at the meeting in Hawaii, the defense chiefs of the United States, Australia and Japan reiterated their support for the defense of the Philippines and took important steps towards concrete cooperation on this issue. In addition to the defense support to the Philippines, North Korea’s intercontinental ballistic missile tests and Moscow’s cooperation with Pyongyang in military technology were condemned during these talks.
In addition to defense commitments, these talks focused on the implementation of a series of trilateral F-35 Joint Strike Aircraft (JSF) training exercises over the next two years, including Exercise Cope North 2025 in the United States, Exercise Bushido Guardian 2025 in Japan and Exercise Pitch Black October 2026 in Australia. The three countries also discussed the future of joint land and sea exercises, and in addition, it was decided to expand trilateral intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance cooperation. Oct.
The main fears here are related to the security of the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait. If Western powers continue to develop political ties with Taiwan and start violating China’s red lines, these steps will also put regional security at risk. Therefore, Western actors, on the one hand, support Taiwan’s participation in international organizations, and on the other hand, continue to strengthen military cooperation around this island. Therefore, these moves are equivalent to the encirclement of China politically, militarily and economically.
Logistical and military access agreements will facilitate the access of the United States and its allies to the East and South China Seas. One of the internal political debates in Japan is also related to the role that Japan can play in the defense of Taiwan. Although the Tokyo Government has made some legal changes to the deployment of the Japanese Self-Defense Forces across national borders, it is still debatable whether such support will be possible.
Dec January 2023, within the scope of the agreement between the United States and Japan, it is planned that the two countries will establish a “Crisis Intervention Force”. Accordingly, Tokyo will establish an integrated unified command aimed at controlling all its military commands from a single center. Thus, the United States and Japan aim to increase their operational readiness with the new military commands they have established and to improve their intervention capabilities in a possible crisis. These commands will coordinate movements between the Japanese Self-Defense Forces and the American Forces in case of emergency Decrees.
If the United States and Japan sign similar agreements with the Philippines and Australia, there may be a clarification of military coalitions in the Asia-Pacific. In other words, the regional and global conjuncture is quite similar to the period when coalitions were formed before the first and second world wars. These steps taken in the name of creating an ”extended deterrence” and ensuring their national security cause a security dilemma. Jul. Jul: Going down the path of militarization in order to ensure their own security endangers the security of other states as well.
As a result, allied states in the Asia-Pacific are establishing defense partnerships with the United States due to their own national security concerns. But in this case, regional allies such as the Philippines, Japan and Australia are also included in military coalitions. While the United States is accelerating its strategy of encircling China, the number of bilateral, trilateral and quadruple military coalitions in the region is also gradually increasing. It is likely that the regional states will again see the greatest damage from this polarization.
[1] “The USA, Australia, Japan and the Philippines are holding talks in Hawaii”, VOA News, https://www.voanews.com/a/us-australia-japan-philippines-hold-talks-in-hawaii/7596643.html , (Access Date: 03.05.2024).
[2] “SECDEF Austin Meets with Defense Chiefs from Australia, Japan and the Philippines”, USNI, https://news.usni.org/2024/05/03/secdef-austin-meets-with-defense-chiefs-from-australia-japan-and-the-philippines , (Access Date: 03.05.2024).
[3] Ibid.
