'Defence pact with Japan won't hurt China'

Sydney, Mar 11: A defence pact between Australia and Japanwill not jeopardise the country's ties with China, Australia's PrimeMinister John Howard said today.

Howard will sign a defence agreement, which is expected to includegreater intelligence sharing and joint training exercises in Australia,with his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe during a three-day visit toTokyo.

Howard is due in Japan late today.

''I don't think anybody in their wildest imagination would suggestthat our relations with China aren't very good and very close,'' Howardtold reporters in Sydney.

''But our relations with Japan are very good and very close -- andbear in mind that Japan is a democracy who shares many things with usthat are special.

''Because of that I don't expect there will be any enduringsensitivities on the part of China any more than there are any enduringsensitivities on the part of China in respect of our close alliancewith the United States.'' There has been concern -- mainly fromAustralia's Labor opposition -- that closer security ties with Japanmay hurt Canberra's relationship with China, with which it hasflourishing diplomatic and military ties.

Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said the pact was not aimed atChina and that the defence agreement with Japan would focus on areaslike counter-terrorism, dealing with emergency relief and peacekeeping.

''This isn't directed at China, it needs to be looked at in thecontext of our bilateral relationship with Japan,'' Downer told a localtelevision today.

''There is a very strong relationship with Japan that's inAustralia's interest and it's not directed at anybody else.'' Japan isthe biggest buyer of Australian exports and the two countries, whichdid 4.07 trillion yen (34.4 billion dollar) of trade in 2005, plan tostart discussions on a free trade deal next month.

Reuters>