IS W REALLY SO SUBTLE THAT THEY'RE JUST NOTICING THIS NOW?:

The emerging axis of democracy (Hisane Masaki, 3/15/07, Asia Times)

In a move very likely to alarm China, Japan and Australia have signed a historic joint security declaration calling for closer cooperation on terrorism, proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, disaster relief, and peacekeeping.

This is Japan's second bilateral security deal, the other being the Japan-US Security Treaty dating back about half a century. The Japan-Australia pact is seen by many observers as underscoring a looming US-Australia-Japan axis of democracy, primarily aimed at keeping in check China, a rapidly ascending military as well as economic power in the Asia-Pacific region.