As Japan and Australia deepen their strategic alignment, a new think-tank report has proposed the quasi-allies divide up efforts to boost ties with Pacific island nations in a bid to maintain critical supply lines and prevent China from gaining a military foothold in the region in the event of a war.
Set to be released Friday, the report by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) says that in a regional conflict instigated by Beijing, the United States would likely focus on fighting China while allied nations would be expected to ¡°bear most of the burden¡± of protecting their own supply chains.
¡°The maritime supply lines linking Australia and Japan with each other, and with their U.S. ally, would become Chinese targets as these could determine the outcome of a regional conflict,¡± said the report¡¯s author, ASPI senior analyst Alex Bristow.
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