A Message from our Chairman: Statement on the Reciprocal Access Agreement between Japan and Australia

By: Randall G. Schriver |

Today we celebrate the official signing of the Reciprocal Access Agreement (RAA) between the Governments of Japan and Australia, two of our nation’s most important and strategic allies.

The signing of this historical defense deal comes after six years of negotiations and deliberations, signaling that these two nations are willing and committed to further cooperate and deepen their strategic and security relationship.

The framework set forth in the agreement will allow Japan and Australia to support the deployment of defense forces more efficiently and expeditiously – whether it will be for joint military training exercises or natural disaster and humanitarian support.

The United States relies on allies with strong democratic values and shared interests to navigate strategic competition with China.

Beijing continues to deprive the fundamental human rights of Uyghurs and the people in Xinjiang and Tibet with concentration camps and genocide; suppress its own people through means of surveillance and control within its borders and around the world; perpetuate the corruption within its Chinese Communist Party leadership; pursue its alarming pattern of unilateral territorial aggression in the region; and employ economic coercion to force other nations to comply with its autocratic ways.

Project 2049 welcomes efforts by democratic nations to create and operationalize frameworks that promote transparency, trust, and mutual respect. We await with eager anticipation a positive outcome to the Japan-U.K. Reciprocal Access Agreement negotiations that commenced between the Governments of Japan and the United Kingdom in September 2021.

The Honorable Randall G. Schriver

Chairman

The Project 2049 Institute