Plan for Japanese Troops to Be Stationed in Australia Amid Beijing’s Military Incursions

The Australian Defence Force (ADF) is looking to host Japanese rapid-response maritime brigade alongside U.S. marine rotations through northern Australia. Further, Exercise Orient Shield—the largest bilateral wargame between Japan and the United States—will be expanded to include Australia for the first time next year. On Sept. 5, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong and Defence Minister Richard Marles hosted their Japanese counterparts near Melbourne for annual talks. The new announcements come amid Beijing’s unprecedented military build-up and repeated Chinese air force and navy incursions in Japanese territory. Most recently, a Chinese survey vessel briefly entered territorial waters off Kagoshima prefecture on Kyushu, the southernmost of Japan’s four main islands....