SEOUL, South Korea — The security partnership of Australia, the United Kingdom and the U.S. announced Wednesday it is seeking collaboration with Japan, Canada, New Zealand and Korea to mark the third anniversary of the AUKUS alliance.

“AUKUS partners and Japan are exploring opportunities to improve interoperability of their maritime autonomous systems as an initial area of cooperation,” the leaders of the security pact said in a joint statement posted on the White House website.

“Recognizing these countries’ close bilateral defense partnerships with each member of AUKUS, we are consulting with Canada, New Zealand, and the Republic of Korea to identify possibilities for collaboration on advanced capabilities under AUKUS Pillar II,” the statement reads.

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Pillar II aims to develop technology such as artificial intelligence, cyber and hypersonic capabilities among security pact members. Pillar I focused on the U.S. and the U.K. providing nuclear-powered submarines to Australia.

The announcement signals an expansion of the AUKUS partnership in the Indo-Pacific region — where China has asserted itself with its growing military operations and expansive territorial claims in the South China Sea, and where North Korea has continually engaged in provocations against the South.

On Wednesday, the Chinese People Liberation Army Navy’s heavy aircraft carrier Liaoning, escorted by two destroyers, passed between the Japanese islands of Yonaguni and Iriomote.

According to Japanese media, it is the first time a Chinese carrier has transited that strait, though the Liaoning navigated different channels through Japan’s southern Ryukyu Archipelago in 2021 and 2022.

What’s more, North Korea test-fired several short-range missiles into the Sea of Japan on Wednesday, just days after revealing a uranium test facility with promises to increase its already formidable stockpile of atomic weapons.

According to Seoul’s Joint Chiefs, the missiles flew about 250 miles.

The AUKUS partnership was formed in 2021 to “promote a free and open Indo-Pacific that is secure and stable” with an initial focus on the waters patrolled and defended by Australia, whose location in the region could help provide a strategic check on Chinese aggression.

Similarly, Japan, home to the largest American troop presence outside the continental U.S., is expanding its security capabilities with assets ranging from a brace of aircraft carriers for F-35 fifth-generation fighter jets to a “counterstrike” force of Tomahawk cruise missiles.

In addition, Japan is well positioned to supply expertise in maritime drone technology to AUKUS, Japanese media speculated after the AUKUS statement was released, noting the island’s unmanned vessels involved in everything from information gathering to mine clearing.

Any expansion of AUKUS is unlikely to be welcomed in Beijing.

“AUKUS is essentially about fueling military confrontation through military collaboration. It is apparently driven by Cold-War thinking,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said last year. “China is deeply concerned and firmly opposed to it.”