In Geopolitics Today - Thursday, January 6th
Japan Signs Defence Pact with Australia, France’s Future Role in the Info-Pacific, and Morocco Builds Air Defence Base Near Rabat
Japan Signs Defence Pact with Australia
Australia and Japan have signed a significant mutual defence agreement. The signing of the Reciprocal Access Agreement between Japan and Australia allows the militaries of both countries deep access to each others’ airbases, ports and infrastructure facilities. As a result of the deal, both countries have lowered barriers to each other for training, exercising, and operating together in any future war with China. The agreement also marks another step in the developing international security structure aimed at containing China in the Asia-Pacific region.
The pact sets out a framework for establishing legal status and procedures for military drills conducted jointly by Japan's Self-Defense Forces and the Australian military on each others’ territory. The Reciprocal Access Agreement will also set up a joint committee to discuss operational issues more broadly in its function as part of a wider arc of security arrangements that the United States backed in Asia. Washington’s pivot to Asia has translated positively to Australia, which is quickly becoming the most reliable US partner in the region due to their shared membership in the Quad, AUKUS, and Trilateral Security Dialogue arrangements.
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France’s Future Role in the Info-Pacific
Despite the fact that the country’s political and economic heartland is located in Europe, France is nonetheless justifiably considered as an Indo-Pacific power. France maintains overseas territories such as New Caledonia and French Polynesia in the Pacific Ocean, and at present there are roughly 1.6 million French citizens living in France’s Indo-Pacific territories. This has for also translated into a considerable military presence throughout the region with about 8,000 French military personnel in active duty here.
But given China’s increasing assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific, France’s exclusion from the negotiations of the AUKUS alliance presents implications for the country’s strategic interests as an Indo-Pacific power. The diplomatic conundrum between France and the AUKUS alliance could constrain military cooperation and future arms deals between France, Australia, United States, and Japan. Moreover, the exclusion of France has revealed a split between the Indo-Pacific status-quo powers which other powers can exploit. Both of these factors reinforce a lack of trust among allies at a time when European powers adopt a strategy of enhanced naval presence in the Indo-Pacific region. Beijing could seek to engage with Paris going forward in an effort to pull Paris away from Washington’s orbit.
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Morocco Builds Air Defence Base Near Rabat
A new military base has been set up in Morocco, near Sidi Yahya El Gharb, a town located nearly 60 kilometres from Rabat. The facility is speculated to be an air defence base which will house a variety of recently-acquired air defence systems. These systems, if placed here, would be able to cover major Moroccan metropolises in the surrounding areas, as well as other nearby strategic sites. Morocco’s diverse set of military acquisitions in recent years has enabled the country to bolster its defence capabilities from vastly different sources.
The base is expected to be operating a variety of aerial defence technologies. The new base will operate air defence systems procured from China, the United States, France, and defence systems from Israel. China North Industries Group Corporation delivered 24 Sky Dragon 50 medium-range surface-to-air missiles and France supplied Rabat with short-range missile defence system VL Mika. Moreover, Morocco has reportedly held negotiations with different suppliers to buy medium- and long-range air defence systems. The government has made no official announcement regarding the military base.
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