Japan Defence Minister Visits Canberra as Trump Slashes Asia Drills

Japan’s defence minister Shinjiro Koizumi will meet Richard Marles in Canberra Tuesday for talks on Australia's acquisition of Mogami-class frigates and deeper security cooperation. This is the highest-level engagement since Albanese's podcast comments sparked the "melon-gate" controversy, though Tokyo has moved to defuse the diplomatic blip.

Off the Record

The timing is everything. While Canberra courts Tokyo's naval hardware, Trump just ordered the...