Japan's Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison (Source: theaustralian.com.au)

Morrison arrived in Japan on Tuesday for a two-day visit and met Suga at the Prime Minister's office in Tokyo.  

In a joint statement, Suga and Morrison expressed “serious concerns about the situation” in the East Sea (internationally known as the South China Sea) and the East China Sea and “strong opposition” to militarizing disputed islands and other unilateral attempts to change the status quo, thus raising tension in the region. 

Suga said Japan and Australia are "special strategic partners" sharing fundamental values such as democracy and the rule of law and will "cooperate to realize a free and open Indo-Pacific." Morrison said Japan and Australia had taken a "significant step forward" in negotiations on a “status of forces” pact that began in 2014.