{"id":36886,"date":"2018-01-25T14:30:29","date_gmt":"2018-01-25T03:30:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?p=36886"},"modified":"2018-01-25T09:18:05","modified_gmt":"2018-01-24T22:18:05","slug":"australia-north-asian-security","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/australia-north-asian-security\/","title":{"rendered":"Australia: where to with North Asian security?"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/figure>\n

Last week\u2019s one-day meeting of Australian and Japanese prime ministers in Tokyo will reportedly lead to strengthened bilateral defence ties, supposedly to enhance regional security in the face of \u2018North Korean aggression\u2019 and \u2018the strategic rise of China\u2019.<\/p>\n

In a joint statement, the two leaders agreed to promote \u2018deeper and broader defence cooperation\u2019 this year, including exercises, operations, capacity-building and mutual visits by the military forces of Japan and Australia.<\/p>\n

What Australia hopes to gain from upgrading the security relationship remains unclear.<\/p>\n

Selling Australian military equipment to Japan and having Japanese forces exercising in northern Australia aren\u2019t problems for most Australians. However, a more substantive link to Japan\u2019s security, such as Australian military personnel training and exercising in Japan, could involve Australia unnecessarily with tensions in Northeast Asia that have little to do with our security interests.<\/p>\n

At a press conference with his Japanese counterpart Shinz\u014d Abe, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull commented, \u2018We discussed at considerable length the threats posed by the reckless rogue regime in North Korea.\u2019 He went on to say, \u2018We discussed the importance of ensuring the economic sanctions are enforced rigorously so that this regime is brought to its senses and stops threatening in the manner that it does the peace and stability of our region.\u2019<\/p>\n

Both parties claimed that it\u2019s vital to boost military cooperation given the tense regional situation, \u2018with North Korea\u2019s missile programme bringing the world closer to nuclear conflict than at any time since the Cold War\u2019.<\/p>\n

Economic sanctions against North Korea won\u2019t be effective in bringing about denuclearisation of the peninsula because Kim Jong-Un sees the nuclear missile program as vital for his regime\u2019s survival. Sanctions will only bring more hardship for North Korean workers who can\u2019t afford to supplement their already-limited food intake.<\/p>\n

North Korea becoming a nuclear-weapon state doesn\u2019t spell the end of strategic stability in North Asia\u2014or in the broader Pacific region. Pyongyang\u2019s nuclear missile program is intended to give North Korea the capability to deliver a nuclear strike against US territory\u2014in order to deter the US from attacking North Korea. Japan has never been an intended target, although Tokyo is understandably nervous about North Korea launching test missiles in its direction. No doubt North Korea would prefer to launch its missiles in another direction so the US and Japan can\u2019t recover parts from them, but geography limits its launch options.<\/p>\n

North and South Korea are probably best left to work out their relationship for themselves. When they\u2019ve been able to conduct direct talks without US involvement, they seem to have managed reasonably well. There\u2019s certainly a new spirit of harmony between the two at the moment in the lead-up to the Winter Olympic Games in Pyeongchang. It\u2019s in South Korea\u2019s interest, of course, to be magnanimous about inviting the North to attend the games. This will help ensure that the North doesn\u2019t disrupt them. At the same time, it\u2019s in North Korea\u2019s interest to showcase its softer side on the world stage, and not allow the South to get all the positive publicity.<\/p>\n

North\u2013South harmony will probably disintegrate with the next round of US \u2013 South Korea military exercises, scheduled for late March 2018\u2014after the Paralympic Games. Pressure to continue the exercises seems to be coming mainly from the US. It\u2019s of course possible that President Donald Trump sees some value in keeping tensions high on the peninsula to distract Americans from his political problems at home. However, high tensions risk miscalculation and escalation.<\/p>\n

China\u2019s expanding military and economic influence was also a factor in encouraging Australia and Japan to draw closer militarily. However, upgrading our security relationship with Japan will inevitably antagonise China.<\/p>\n

While the US will continue to be our main long-term security partner, China is our main long-term economic partner and far more important to our economy. Beijing seems increasingly perplexed and irritated by what it regards as the hostile policies of the Turnbull government. We should also be wary of becoming too closely associated with the Trump administration\u2019s unpredictable foreign policy and its latest focus on containing China.<\/p>\n

What Australia could contribute militarily to Japan\u2019s security would be symbolic rather than useful. The Australian Defence Force is roughly a quarter of the size of the Japanese Self-Defence Forces, and the ultimate guarantor of Japan\u2019s security is the 1960 US\u2013Japan security treaty. Japan and the powerful US Pacific Command are more than capable of coping with foreseeable North Asian threat scenarios without our assistance.<\/p>\n

Realistically, Australia\u2019s core security interests lie closer to home, in Southeast Asia, the Southwest Pacific, and the Indian and Southern oceans\u2014and not in North Asia, South Asia or the Middle East. In those more distant areas, Australian military involvement should be limited to small deployments of our very capable special forces soldiers\u2014when it\u2019s in our<\/em> national interest to be involved. We also have a moral obligation to provide military engineers to assist with reconstruction in former conflict zones when we\u2019ve been a party to the conflict.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last week\u2019s one-day meeting of Australian and Japanese prime ministers in Tokyo will reportedly lead to strengthened bilateral defence ties, supposedly to enhance regional security in the face of \u2018North Korean aggression\u2019 and \u2018the strategic …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":749,"featured_media":36890,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[285,135,86],"class_list":["post-36886","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-foreign-policy","tag-japan","tag-north-korea"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nAustralia: where to with North Asian security? | The Strategist<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/australia-north-asian-security\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Australia: where to with North Asian security? | The Strategist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Last week\u2019s one-day meeting of Australian and Japanese prime ministers in Tokyo will reportedly lead to strengthened bilateral defence ties, supposedly to enhance regional security in the face of \u2018North Korean aggression\u2019 and \u2018the strategic ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/australia-north-asian-security\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Strategist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ASPI.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-01-25T03:30:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-01-24T22:18:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/4758629713_1b0a26bc83_z.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"640\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"480\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Clive Williams\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ASPI_org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ASPI_org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Clive Williams\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/\",\"name\":\"The Strategist\",\"description\":\"ASPI's analysis and commentary site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/australia-north-asian-security\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/4758629713_1b0a26bc83_z.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/4758629713_1b0a26bc83_z.jpg\",\"width\":640,\"height\":480},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/australia-north-asian-security\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/australia-north-asian-security\/\",\"name\":\"Australia: where to with North Asian security? | The Strategist\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/australia-north-asian-security\/#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2018-01-25T03:30:29+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-01-24T22:18:05+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/e9e839354353043b5674c7fd9c4491e5\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/australia-north-asian-security\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/australia-north-asian-security\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/australia-north-asian-security\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Australia: where to with North Asian security?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/e9e839354353043b5674c7fd9c4491e5\",\"name\":\"Clive Williams\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f9d13a394a07e9d3a417243431ad2b4f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f9d13a394a07e9d3a417243431ad2b4f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Clive Williams\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/author\/clive-williams\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Australia: where to with North Asian security? | The Strategist","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/australia-north-asian-security\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Australia: where to with North Asian security? | The Strategist","og_description":"Last week\u2019s one-day meeting of Australian and Japanese prime ministers in Tokyo will reportedly lead to strengthened bilateral defence ties, supposedly to enhance regional security in the face of \u2018North Korean aggression\u2019 and \u2018the strategic ...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/australia-north-asian-security\/","og_site_name":"The Strategist","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ASPI.org","article_published_time":"2018-01-25T03:30:29+00:00","article_modified_time":"2018-01-24T22:18:05+00:00","og_image":[{"width":640,"height":480,"url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/4758629713_1b0a26bc83_z.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Clive Williams","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@ASPI_org","twitter_site":"@ASPI_org","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Clive Williams","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/","name":"The Strategist","description":"ASPI's analysis and commentary site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-AU"},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/australia-north-asian-security\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/4758629713_1b0a26bc83_z.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/4758629713_1b0a26bc83_z.jpg","width":640,"height":480},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/australia-north-asian-security\/","url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/australia-north-asian-security\/","name":"Australia: where to with North Asian security? | The Strategist","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/australia-north-asian-security\/#primaryimage"},"datePublished":"2018-01-25T03:30:29+00:00","dateModified":"2018-01-24T22:18:05+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/e9e839354353043b5674c7fd9c4491e5"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/australia-north-asian-security\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-AU","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/australia-north-asian-security\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/australia-north-asian-security\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Australia: where to with North Asian security?"}]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/e9e839354353043b5674c7fd9c4491e5","name":"Clive Williams","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f9d13a394a07e9d3a417243431ad2b4f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f9d13a394a07e9d3a417243431ad2b4f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Clive Williams"},"url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/author\/clive-williams\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36886"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/749"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36886"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36886\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":36891,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36886\/revisions\/36891"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36890"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36886"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36886"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36886"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}