Australia’s Foreign Minister Makes Critical Visits to Northeast Asia |
Oceania | Diplomacy | Oceania
Australia’s Foreign Minister Makes Critical Visits to Northeast Asia
Stopping in Japan, South Korea, and China, Foreign Minister Penny Wong met with three of Australia’s four largest trading partners.
After both Australia’s prime minister and foreign minister made recent trips through Southeast Asia with the intent of securing Australia’s fuel supply, this week Foreign Minister Penny Wong traveled to northeast Asia with the same intent. The trip was designed to not just ask for assistance during an energy crisis, but to acknowledge where Australia has leverage in its ability to negotiate with Japan, South Korea, and China.
The conflict in the Middle East and the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz has exposed a structural vulnerability for Australia. Australia imports the vast majority of its refined fuels, and it has low domestic fuel reserves, making it disproportionately reliant on Asian refining hubs that source oil from the Middle East. When oil is flowing unimpeded, this isn’t a problem, but when a crisis hits it leaves Australia exposed.
Although low on oil, Australia has the world’s second largest liquified natural gas (LNG) export capacity and Japan, China, and South Korea are the world’s three biggest LNG importers. Australia is consistently Japan’s dominant supplier and usually second to Qatar for China and South Korea. It is also a major supplier of coal and agricultural products to the Northeast Asian region. This gives Canberra a strong hand to play, and reflects a broader shift toward “economic statecraft,” where trade interdependence is actively used to manage strategic risk.
Japan was the least complicated leg of Wong’s trip, due to the quasi-alliance between the two countries. From an energy perspective, the relationship is defined by balanced interdependence on essential commodities like energy. This made the discussions less about immediate crisis management and more about long-term coordination, ensuring that the supply chains between the two countries remain stable and resilient to disruption.
With major investments in infrastructure and technology over the past two decades, South Korea has turned itself into one of the most advanced and important oil refining hubs in the Indo-Pacific. It is now consistently the single largest supplier of refined oil to Australia. Although the relationship with Seoul is blossoming, it remains far less intimate than with Tokyo. Yet Wong was able to secure an agreement to maintain supply of diesel and other liquid fuels, even though Seoul had been contemplating export restrictions.
The China leg of Wong’s regional tour was always going to be the most politically........