JAPAN, AUSTRALIA AFFIRM NEED FOR PEACE ACROSS TAIWAN STRAIT

Japan and Australia affirmed Wednesday the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait while agreeing to deepen bilateral security cooperation amid China's rising assertiveness in regional waters, Kyodo News reported.

The move followed similar calls for peaceful resolution of cross-strait issues during Japan's recent summit talks with the United States and the European Union (EU).

Tokyo and Canberra also confirmed at the virtual security talks that Japan's Self-Defense Forces (SDF) will protect Australian military assets in non-combat situations, Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi said.

In a joint statement issued after the ninth "two-plus-two" bilateral talks, Japan and Australia's foreign and defense ministers said for the first time they "underscore the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and encourage the peaceful resolution of cross-strait issues."

China regards Taiwan, a democratic, self-ruled island, as a renegade province to be reunited with the mainland by force if necessary.

Kishi and Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said they also shared with their Australian counterparts -- Marise Payne and Peter Dutton -- concerns over a recently enacted Chinese law that enables its coast guard ships to fire on foreign vessels in waters that Beijing deems its territory.

Kishi told reporters following the online talks that Japan and Australia need to "further deepen security cooperation" so that they can "proactively contribute to the peace and stability of the Indo-Pacific region."

As for the SDF protection of Australian military assets, Canberra became the second country, after the United States, whose assets Tokyo is allowed to protect under Japanese security legislation that came into force in 2016.

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