(15 Oct 2013) Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop made her first official visit to Japan on Tuesday.
At a news conference in Tokyo, she said she supported Japan having a greater role in regional security, and called for further co-operation on both defence and trade issues.
Bishop said she was "comfortable" with the security alliance between the two countries, and that she supported Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's plans to seek a larger role in security issues.
"We support Japan's plan to work towards a more normal defence posture to help it play that greater role," she said.
Since the end of World War II, Japan's constitutional interpretation allows the nation's defence forces only to exercise the right of self-defence of Japan, but not collective defence.
The Abe administration has been working to change that interpretation amid missile threats from North Korea, and territorial disputes with China over a set of islands in the East China Sea.
Bishop, meanwhile, said she wants China to be more engaged in the region despite concerns over its "increasing assertiveness".
"I believe we should be encouraging China to be a responsible regional and global player," she said.
Bishop was expected to hold a news conference with Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida later on Tuesday.
The two sides are expected to discuss furthering bilateral co-operation in defence issues, as well as ongoing free-trade negotiations.
Bishop will also visit South Korea and Hong Kong during a week-long East Asia trip aimed at furthering strategic and economic co-operation with countries the region.
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