Japanese helicopter carrier, Izumo, which is being converted to carry F-35s<\/p>\n
Amid fear of what China might do in the coming years, Japan is reaching out to turn a former enemy into an ally while increasing its military spending.<\/p>\n
On Saturday, World War II foes Australia<\/a> and Japan signed a security agreement to share intelligence and assist each other. The deal was inked by Prime Ministers Fumio Kishida and Anthony Albanese in the western Australian city of Perth, according to the Voice of America.<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cThis landmark declaration sends a strong signal to the region of our strategic alignment,\u201d Albanese said, according to VOA.<\/p>\n Ken Kotani of Nihon University, an expert in the history of Japanese intelligence, called the deal \u201can epoch-making event,\u201d VOA reported.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, according to Reuters<\/a>, Japan is rebuilding its military in a way not seen since before World War II to prepare for what some policymakers fear is an inevitable showdown with China.<\/p>\n The Japanese Coast Guard has upgraded its operations with a new MQ-9B SeaGuardian drone with more early-warning aircraft soon to be deployed, according to DefenseNews<\/a>.<\/p>\n Japan\u2019s government \u201chas the wind at its back and will use that to do whatever it can,\u201d Takashi Kawakami, a professor at Takushoku University in Tokyo, said, according to Reuters.<\/p>\n Officials and analysts say that 2027, the next Communist Party Congress in China, could be the year China matches its bellicose rhetoric on Taiwan with action. China claims Taiwan is rightfully part of the mainland. The self-governing island became the home of the former Nationalist government when the Communists won China\u2019s civil war in 1949.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are different shades of opinion, but generally, government officials share the same view of the significance of 2027,\u201d Reuters quoted a senior Japanese government official it did not name as saying.<\/p>\n The US State Department has approved a possible Foreign Military Sale (FMS) to Japan of up to 32 Standard Missile 6 (SM-6) Block I missiles and related equipment for an estimated cost of $450 million. pic.twitter.com\/SRBCLUERXS<\/a><\/p>\n — Guy Plopsky (@GuyPlopsky) October 21, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n