Japan Seeks to Share Defence Intelligence with India, UK, Australia Amid Tiff with China

Amid global retaliation against China, Japan on Friday has sought to expand its defense intelligence sharing to India, Australia and U.K, as per international news reports. The country reportedly has decided to include these three nations by amending its state secrets law which already covers US. This decision comes amid Japan’s ongoing tiff with China over uninhabited Senkaku/Diaoyu islands in the Indo-Pacific sea, which has been administered by Japan since 1972.

Japan seeks sharing defence intelligence

Reports state that by amending the states secret law, it will allow Japan to share data on Chinese troop movements as it gets harder for Japan to track China’s activities in the region on its own. Moreover, reports stat that Japan is mulling to share intelligence with U.K., Australia, India and France, with which Japan has signed agreements, thus mandating both sides to keep classified defense information secret. Japan has participated in the India-US-Japan Malabar naval exercise every year since 2015 and .

Japan-China’s recent island skirmish

On June 22, Ishigaki City Council in Japan’s Okinawa approved legislation to change the administrative status of the Senkaku islands by changing its name from “Tonoshiro” to Tonoshiro Senkaku”, to reportedly avoid confusion. The islands, 1,200 miles (1,931 kilometers) southwest of Tokyo, have been administered by Japan since 1972, but both nations have claimed the islands as their own for over a hundred years. Since April, Japan has reportedly spotted at least 67 Chinese ships near Senkaku islands, the latest in May. Japan has already deployed its missiles towards its border facing China amid its several maritime incursions.

Japan backs India against China in LAC

Earlier in the day, Japanese Ambassador to India Satoshi Suzuki opposed ‘any unilateral attempts to change the status quo’ after holding talks with Foreign Secretary Harsh V Shringla about the LAC standoff. Shringla has briefed US, France, Germany, Russia and Japan on the situation at Line of Actual Control with China in Ladakh and India’s efforts for a peaceful resolution, over the past week. Apart from participating in naval exercises every year with Japan and US, India is also a part of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad)- which is a informal strategic dialogue between the United States, India, Japan, and Australia.

US, Russia, Japan on LAC

Apart from Japan, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has acknowledged India’s efforts to maintain peace at the border and has slammed China’s ‘illegal claims to more territory’. On June 20, referring to the Galwan clashes, he said, “The PLA has escalated border tensions – we see it today in India, the world’s most populous democracy”. Russia, on the other hand, has ruled any intervention in the current standoff between India and China – maintaining that the two can solve problems on their own. Most global powers have expressed their condolences to India on the 20 soldiers’ martyrdom.

Source: Republic TV