The Australia-Japan Defence and Security Relationship: Past, Present and Future
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The Australia-Japan Defence and Security Relationship: Past, Present and Future by Peter J McDermott AM, CSC, BSc, MSSM, Grad Dip Business Administration, Dip App Sci Air Navigation, Dip App Sci Aero-systems, Dip Admin Studies Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Deakin University April 2021 i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I have been supervised and advised by a dedicated and experienced panel who encouraged me, set high standards, improved my writing, and provided continual support. Principal supervisor, Professor Baogang He, Alfred Deakin Professor and Personal Chair in International Relations, guided me in a field new to me and challenged my assumptions. Associate Professor Bob Breen, as a military academic and author greatly assisted my thesis presentation and helped me draw out military arguments. Associate Professor Chengxin Pan set me on a security practitioner reporting path. I thank the 94 security practitioners who allowed me to record their experiences and insights into the defence and security relationship between Japan and Australia. Everyone considered that this relationship was important to improve mutual security, and to all, I owe a debt of gratitude. Their testimony gave credibility and authenticity to my research, and I offer this present thesis as a record of their places in Australian and Japanese security and military history. iv CONTRIBUTION STATEMENT Research requires the contribution of a collaborative team. The contribution of the following is gratefully acknowledged. • Deakin Supervisory team: Professor Baogang He, Associate Professor Bob Breen, and Associate Professor Chengxin Pan professionally provided welcome and valued direction, assistance, encouragement, and constructive criticism. • Examination Team: The examiners providing valuable input that made a material difference to the final thesis. • Deakin University: HDR academic and administrative staff provided outstanding support throughout the research journey. • Partner Institutions: o The Australian Defence Department and the Australian Defence Force provided ethics approval and access to defence and other government officials for interviews. The Australian Defence College provided broad sponsorship for the PhD by Portfolio Program conducted by Deakin for Defence. Defence did not grant access to any defence or other government documents not in the public domain. o The Japanese Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Defense provided access to interviewees and support. Their archives were a valuable source. o The Australian National Archives provided outstanding support in clearing and providing access to archived historical material allowing for the publication of previously unseen original material. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs Archives section was a valuable source. o The Japanese Embassy in Canberra and the Australian Embassy in Tokyo provided access to government officials and excellent support. o The Japanese National Institute of Defense Studies in Tokyo provided valued access and support. o The Australian National Library provided excellent support in finding documents. o The CEOs and staff of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, Center for Independent Strategic Analysis, Center for Budgetary and Strategic Analysis provided encouragement and access to interviewees. • Other collaborations: over 90 national security practitioners provided insights and recall of experiences generating a large database of original research. A small number of them reviewed sections of this thesis for accuracy in their specific fields. ETHICS APPROVAL FOR HUMAN RESEARCH Ethics Approval 069-18 was granted by the Defence/Department of Veterans’ Affairs Human Research Ethics Committee on 12 November 2018 and later endorsed by the Deakin Human Research Ethics Committee. v ABSTRACT This thesis is a critical examination of the foundation and possible trajectory of the Australia-Japan defence and security relationship (A-JDSR). The thesis is timely. Since its early beginnings in the 1960s, but especially since 1992, the A-JDSR has assumed increasing mutual importance. Both countries have made separate and joint declarations about the need to work together for regional and global security. A process of preparing protocols and agreements for acting together in regional security contingencies is underway, and both have recently increased their exchanges of Defence attaché staff. There are increasing levels of dialogue and combined exercising, bilaterally and with the United States. Recent challenges to their security are prompting Australia and Japan and like-minded countries, especially the United States and the ASEAN nations, to consider developing a more structured security framework. The revitalised Quadrilateral Security Dialogue is a good example of such a framework. The thesis proposes a framework that may add to Asia-Pacific regional security by meeting the challenge of a rising China, an authoritarian state seeking more global and regional influence. All countries in the region need to address China’s competition with the United States as this inextricably puts stress on Australia and Japan because of their respective separate security alliances with the United States. A ‘virtual alliance’ defence and security relationship already exists, supplementing defence and security dialogue and cooperation. A risk is that China can interpret closer A-JDSR ties as attempting to restrict it from taking its rightful place in the global order. This thesis posits an option for the future of the A-JDSR that: mitigates this risk; hedges formal alliances; and bolsters resilience as the rules-based global order comes under pressure from authoritarian power. The thesis draws on the candidate’s experience as a security practitioner, military diplomat, and policymaker. It collects empirical data in the form of primary sources: recently declassified archived Government files; interviews with other practitioners; and secondary sources. The candidate’s interviews with politicians, academics, diplomats, commentators, military commanders and staff, policymakers, and practitioners in the national security communities of Australia, China, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States supplement personal experience and examination of other sources. vi ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS A-J Australia-Japan A-J-US Australia-Japan-United States A-JDSR Australia-Japan Defence and Security Relations(hip) ACSA Acquisition and Cross-Servicing Agreement ANZUS Australia, New Zealand and US ANU Australian National University AP Asia-Pacific ARA Australian Regular Army ARF ASEAN Regional Forum ASEAN Association of Southeast Asian Nations ASPI Australian Strategic Policy Institute AUSMIN Australia-US Ministerial Consultations CCP Chinese Communist Party CDF Chief of Defence Force (Australia—new) CDFS Chief of Defence Force Staff (Australia—old) CJCS Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff (US) CJSC Chairman, Joint Staff Council (Japan—new) COSJS Chief of Staff, Joint Staff (Japan—old) DASA Defence and Armed Services Attaché (Australia) DFAT Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Australia) DIHQ Defense Intelligence Headquarters (Japan) DIO Defence Intelligence Organization (Australia) DPRK Democratic People’s Republic of Korea FOIP Free and Open Indo-Pacific FVEY Five Eyes (Australia, Canada, New Zealand, UK, US) GSOMIA General Security of Military Information Agreement HA/DR Humanitarian aid and Disaster Response HADS Head, Australian Defence Staff HNS Host Nation Support (between US and Japan) IP Indo-Pacific JASDF Japanese Air Self Defense Force JDA Japan Defense Agency (until 9 January 2007) JDSC Joint Declaration on Security Cooperation ((Japan-Australia) JGSDF Japanese Ground Self Defense Force vii JMOD Japanese Ministry of Defense (after 9 January 2007) JMSDF Japanese Maritime Self Defense Force JSDF Japanese Self Defense Force L-NP Liberal-National Party (Australia) LDP Liberal Democratic Party (Japan) MOFA Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Japan) NAA National Archives of Australia NARA Nippon-Australia Relations Agreement NDPG National Defense Program Guidelines (Japan) NEA Northeast Asia NGO Non-Governmental Organisation ONA Office of National Assessments (Australia -old) ONI Office of National Intelligence (Australia - new) PLA People’s Liberation Army (China) PLA-AF People’s Liberation Army—Air Force (China) PLA-N People’s Liberation Army—Navy (China) PRC People’s Republic of China QUAD Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Australia, India, Japan, US) RAA Reciprocal Access Agreement RAAF Royal Australian Air Force RAN Royal Australian Navy RCEP Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership RIPS Research Institute for Peace & Security (Japan) ROK Republic of Korea RUSIDSS-A Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies – Australia SDSC Strategic Defence Studies Centre (ANU) SEA Southeast Asia SOFA Status of Forces Agreement TSD Trilateral Strategic Dialogue UN United Nations USN United States Navy UNC United Nations Command UNC (Rear) United Nations Command (Rear) US-JMST US-Japan Mutual Security Treaty viii TABLE OF CONTENTS Acronyms and Abbreviations ......................................................................................... i Table of Contents ........................................................................................................... ix Portfolio of Professional Experience and Writings ...................................................... 1 0.1 Introduction… ............................................................................................