Japan and Australia are cosying up to each other

WHEN ABE SHINZO visited Australia in 2014, he became the first Japanese leader to address its parliament. Relations between the two countries have since blossomed. In 2018 Malcolm Turnbull, Australia’s then-prime minister, posted a celebratory selfie of himself with Mr Abe and their wives after salvaging the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a big trade deal that America had ditched. Before the pandemic, Aussie tourists flocked to Japanese ski resorts. Japan was the first country that Scott Morrison, the current Australian leader, visited after the pandemic started. On January 6th Mr Morrison and Japan’s new prime minister, Kishida Fumio, held a virtual summit to sign a long-awaited treaty to improve security co-operation.