Japan hails ‘unprecedented’ security ties as British aircraft carrier visits Tokyo
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Britain's Prince of Wales aircraft carrier arriving at Tokyo Port in Japan on Aug 28.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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TOKYO - Security cooperation between Japan and Britain has reached an “unprecedented” level, Japan’s Defence Minister Gen Nakatani said on Aug 28, as a Royal Navy aircraft carrier sailed into Tokyo on a goodwill visit.
“Japan and the UK have been steadily enhancing cooperation as each other’s closest security partners in Asia and Europe,” Mr Nakatani told reporters at a joint press conference with British Defence Secretary John Healey.
Tokyo has been seeking to broaden security ties beyond its alliance with the US to help counter China’s growing influence. London, meanwhile, is working to expand its role in the Indo-Pacific as the region increasingly becomes a driver of global economic growth.
“The security of the Indo-Pacific is interlinked and indivisible with security in the Euro-Atlantic,” Mr Healey said.
Britain’s Prince of Wales aircraft carrier is visiting Japan as part of a 12-nation strike group with 4,000 personnel on an eight-month mission across the region. It is the first port call to Tokyo by a foreign aircraft carrier.
At the centre of Tokyo-London security cooperation is the Global Combat Air Programme, launched in 2022 to jointly develop a next-generation fighter jet with Italy by the middle of the next decade.
The three partners aim to sign their first international contract for the project by the end of 2025, Mr Healey said. REUTERS
