Global Times recently reported that the Japanese and American governments signed a cooperation research agreement on defense equipment after the “Security Consultative Committee” (2+2) meeting attended by the foreign affairs and defense cabinet officials of the two sides. The agreement is aimed at countering the development of new weapons such as hypersonic missiles that China and North Korea have advanced. The joint statement of the meeting issued by both Japan and the United States repeated some of the same information about many negative China-related issues, such as the human rights concerns related to Xinjiang and Hong Kong, the importance of peace and stability in Taiwan, the East and South China Sea issues, the Senkaku Islands being subject to the Japan-US Security Treaty, as well as other issues. This was the first Japan-US “2+2” meeting since Fumio Kishida took office as Prime Minister of Japan. It is worth noting that just one day before, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison held a video conference with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and signed a historic defense and security cooperation agreement. Before that, Japan had only signed such an agreement with the United States. The Australian Agreement was viewed as a blatant interference in China’s internal affairs, against the backdrop of China’s rising military and economic power.
Source: Global Times, January 7, 2022
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