Japanese diplomat warns on security

Japan’s top diplomat in Australia says his country would not allow any of its key ports to be controlled by China.

Japanese Ambassador Yamagami Shingo says Australia and other ‘like-minded countries’ have to work together to address challenges caused by China. Picture: Gary Ramage

Japan’s top diplomat in Australia says his country would not allow any of its key ports to be controlled by China, as the Morrison government reviews a Chinese company’s ownership of the Port of Darwin.

Ambassador Yamagami Shingo told the National Press Club that Darwin’s proximity to Asia made the port a vital strategic asset for Australia.

Defence Minister Peter Dutton has ordered a review of Chinese company Landbridge’s control of the Port of Darwin, amid growing national security concerns over its 99-year lease of the facility, signed in 2015.

Mr Yamagami said he would not “poke my nose” into Australian domestic policy, but said Japan would not tolerate such an arrangement.

“Could it happen in Japan? I cannot imagine the same to take place at ports like Sasebo (near Nagasaki) or Yokosuka (south of Tokyo), he said. “But it is a decision for the Australian government to make.”

Like Darwin, which is used by Australian and visiting US navy ships, Sasebo and Yokosuka are key strategic ports for US and Japanese warships.

Mr Yamagami, a former intelligence officer who took up his post in February, said suggestions Japan was doing better than Australia in avoiding Chinese coercion were unwarranted.

“No way,” he said. “Each and every day Japan is struggling.”

Japan suffered “blatant” Chinese attempts to change the status quo in the East China Sea, through its challenges to Japan’s long-recognised sovereignty over the Senkaku Islands, Mr Yamagami said.

“We – Australia, Japan, the United States, like-minded countries – have to get together to join forces to address these challenges caused by the rise of this emerging power.

“So don’t worry, you are doing an excellent job. We are in the same boat and we should work together.”

Two days after Japan joined the US, Australia and more than 30 other countries in calling out state-sponsored Chinese hacking, Mr Yamagami said “grey zone” or “asymmetric” tactics below the threshold of war were “a constant concern” for his country.

He said Japan hoped to lift its military co-operation with Australia to “unprecedented” levels in coming years, and flagged new joint exercises in the East China Sea.

Mr Yamagami said security in the East China Sea, and the Strait of Taiwan, was “by no means unrelated to Australia”, due to the huge volumes of Australian exports shipped through the waterway into North Asia.