Quote:

---

Amid fear of what China might do in the coming years, Japan is reaching out to turn a former enemy into an ally while increasing its military spending.

On Saturday, World War II foes Australia and Japan signed a security agreement to share intelligence and assist each other. The deal was inked by Prime Ministers Fumio Kishida and Anthony Albanese in the western Australian city of Perth, according to the Voice of America.

“This landmark declaration sends a strong signal to the region of our strategic alignment,” Albanese said, according to VOA.

Ken Kotani of Nihon University, an expert in the history of Japanese intelligence, called the deal “an epoch-making event,” VOA reported.

---