Japan and Australia are likely to form closer ties to counterweigh China

Recommendable! Also called Koala bear diplomacy! 😊

"Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida visited Perth to meet with his Australian counterpart, Anthony Albanese .... It was the pair’s fourth in-person meeting this year.

One of reasons for Kishida’s visit was reciprocating Albanese’s summit-level visits, as he had already flown to Japan twice since his election (for the Quad leaders’ summit in May and the recent state funeral of former prime minister Shinzo Abe). ...

There were two primary issues that the two leaders discussed. One was energy supply from Australia to Japan. Japanese electricity prices have risen by 20–30% this year due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the depreciation of the Japanese yen. ... Australia is the largest supplier of liquefied national gas and coal for Japan, accounting for 59% and 39% of its import of those commodities, respectively, and ensuring a continuous energy supply was an important political goal for Kishida.

The other major topic was increasing momentum for bilateral security cooperation. The two leaders agreed on a renewed and expanded security partnership for the first time in 15 years. The previous declaration, signed in 2007, focused more on non-traditional security issues such as terrorism and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, and human security concerns such as disaster relief and pandemics. ..."

Kishida–Albanese meeting shows Japan’s diplomacy is outpacing its domestic politics | The Strategist