The new prime minister criticised Chinese economic coercion while pledging stronger security ties with the US,Japan and India.
Australia’s change of government will find accord on a facet of US relations,but the major preoccupation in Asia remains the same:China.
A joint meeting of Australia,the US,India and Japan has failed to condemn Russia over its Ukraine invasion because India stuck to its neutral stance.
The late-night meeting of leaders from Australia the United States,Japan and India will canvass the implications of Russia’s invasion for Chinese claims over Taiwan.
The new agreement cements Japan as Australia’s second most important partner behind the United States.
It is the first agreement of its kind Japan has struck with another country.
The pandemic has prompted a wholesale rethinking of life choices around the world,but nowhere is the switch as obvious as in Japan,where people are rejecting rigid work cultures and seeking an alternative path.
Early exit polls suggested the LDP would not be able to retain a majority in Sunday’s election following a tumultuous year in which it lost two of its former leaders.
It took an Olympics without spectators,four states of emergency,and the resignation of a prime minister,but after four months,Japan has crushed its sharpest coronavirus wave.
The establishment candidate defeated popular favourite Taro Kono to take the leadership of the Liberal Democratic Party.