Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi and his Australian counterpart, Marise Payne, have pledged to promote security cooperation of the "Quad" group, also including the United States and India, in response to China's rising assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific region.
In a meeting Saturday in Liverpool, England, Hayashi and Payne agreed to elevate the two countries' "special strategic partnership" to a higher level as part of efforts to achieve a free and open Indo-Pacific, according to the Japanese Foreign Ministry.
They underscored the significance of a deal by Japan, Australia and the U.S. plus Micronesia, Nauru and Kiribati, to build a new undersea cable to improve internet connectivity to the three Pacific island states, the ministry said.