TOKYO -- Japan and Australia stressed the "importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait" in a statement Wednesday after a meeting of their defense and diplomatic chiefs, highlighting security cooperation between two U.S. allies on the front lines of deterrence against China.
Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi and Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi spoke virtually with Australian counterparts Marise Payne and Peter Dutton. This was the two nations' first two-plus-two meeting since October 2018.
