Middle powers Japan and Australia lift relationship to new heights

Quasi-allies seek to augment US relationship, but also hedge against abandonment

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga meeting one on one in Cornwall, England on June 13. (Photo courtesy of the Japanese Prime Minister's Office)

KEN MORIYASU, Nikkei Asia chief desk editor

June 16, 2021 03:55 JST

NEW YORK -- When Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga sat down on Sunday for breakfast with his Australian counterpart Scott Morrison, whom he calls "ScoMo," the usually stiff Japanese leader let out a smile that by all accounts looked genuine.

Morrison was the first foreign leader Suga met in person last November after he succeeded former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.