Japan 'not currently thinking about joining AUKUS', says PM Kishida after QUAD summit

Japan is not currently planning to join the AUKUS security alliance signed between Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States, said Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Tuesday. However, he noted that Tokyo would develop partnerships with AUKUS member nations. Kishida also hailed the “great importance” of the defence pact which stirred the global political scene last year, especially irking France and China. The trilateral security pact of AUKUS was the first of its kind agreement that witnessed Australia acquiring nuclear-powered submarines. 

Japan not thinking of joining AUKUS at present

Japanese PM said, “AUKUS is of great importance for stability and peace in the region. Our country supports it. Our country is not currently thinking about joining AUKUS. "

"Australia, the UK, the US are important security and defense partners. We will strengthen cooperation with these countries in various forms and will continue to promote it,” Kishida told reporters following the QUAD summit.

Meanwhile, in what appeared to be a veiled attack on China, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Tuesday underscored that all four QUAD nations are committed against any “unilateral change of status quo by force”, especially in the Indo-Pacific region. Following the in-person meeting between Kishida, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, USA President Joe Biden and Australia's newly-elected MP Anthony Albanese, the Japanese PM referred to the Russia-Ukraine war to underscore the importance of “free and open” Indo-Pacific, a longstanding aim of the QUAD leaders.   

Japanese PM Kishida said, "Russian invasion of Ukraine, an incident that shook the very foundation of international order - with the participation of President Biden, PM Modi and PM Albanese, we have been able to send off a powerful message of commitment by the 4 leaders from Tokyo to the whole world."

“The four of us committed that unilateral change of status quo by force will never be allowed in any region, especially in the Indo-Pacific and that a free & open Indo-Pacific is ever more relevant today,” he added. 

QUAD leaders met amid Russia-Ukraine war, China concern

The leaders met for the summit in Tokyo, Japan amid a range of global crisis including the Moscow-Kyiv war. While India has chosen to call for peace without taking any harsh measures against Russia, Kishida asserted that all four nations are uniting against any change in the Indo-Pacific region with the use of force. 

China, which considers Taiwan as its own breakaway province, has repeatedly said that Beijing would force the island if it deviates from the mainland. Additionally, China’s Communist government has been very public with its condemnation of countries’ separate diplomatic ties with Taiwan while also growing assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific region.

Earlier, at the onset of the QUAD meeting, Kishida, who received his QUAD counterparts in Tokyo for the fourth leaders’ summit, averred on Tuesday that “We should not let what’s happening in Ukraine happen in Indo-Pacific”. Prime Minister Modi, US President Biden and Australia’s newly-elected PM Albanese are in Tokyo for the summit and were hosted by Kishida.