There has been some talk in recent weeks about Japan joining AUKUS Pillar II with an announcement potentially timed to coincide with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s visit to Washington on April 10.
In an op-ed published in The Australian, Security & Defence PLuS Executive Director, Dr Ian Langford, writes: “Japan joining Pillar II would be significant. Improving cooperation between the defence science and industrial bases of all four countries to create a unified innovation powerhouse and fast track-key technologies would be strategic for many reasons.”
In the article, Dr Langford outlines benefits to having Japan as an AUKUS Pillar II partner, including potential areas for joint development and similarities in policy. He also notes some of the broader challenges for AUKUS, pointing to overcoming the issue of ITAR. Should the announcement go ahead, Dr Langford cautions: “we should expect Japan to have its own legislative challenges to Pillar II.”
“Japan’s inclusion in Pillar II is, however, a natural evolution of converging security concerns among four Asia-Pacific democracies with the geographic, political and economic capacity to protect and defend the values and traditions of the liberal international order.”