Japan-Australia defence cooperation in the Pacific: the case for a partial division of labour

Executive summary 4

Policy recommendations 5

Australia–Japan strategic alignment 6

Dividing the labour of defence shaping operations in peacetime 8

Japan’s and Australia’s primary areas of strategic interest in the Pacific 10

Denying China a strategic foothold in PNG and Solomon Islands 14

Papua New Guinea 15

Solomon Islands 15

Establishing a military division of labour to deter and prepare for conflict 16

Conclusion 17

Appendix: How strategic geography shapes Japanese and Australian interests in the Pacific 18

Notes 24

Acronyms and abbreviations 27