Japan, Australia ink security pact

Australia and Japan agreed to share sensitive intelligence and deepen defence cooperation yesterday, signing a security pact to counter China's military rise. Prime ministers Fumio Kishida and Anthony Albanese inked the accord in the Western Australian city of Perth, revamping a dusty 15-year-old statement drafted when terrorism and weapons proliferation were the overriding concerns. Kishida said the agreement was a response to an "increasingly harsh strategic environment", without citing China or North Korea by name. Some see the accord as another step toward Japan joining the powerful Five Eyes intelligence-sharing alliance between Australia, Britain, Canada, New Zealand and the United States.