Britain, Japan to sign major defence deal allowing troop deployments

LONDON - Britain and Japan are set to sign a “hugely significant” new defence deal that will allow British troops to deploy to Japan.

The agreement is the latest sign of Britain’s growing interest in the Asia-Pacific region, and Japan’s efforts to strengthen its alliances to face the challenges posed by China.

The deal creates a legal basis for the deployment of British and Japanese troops on each other’s territory for training and other operations.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s office called it “the most significant defence agreement between the two countries in more than a century”.

“In the past 12 months, we have written the next chapter of the relationship between the UK and Japan – accelerating, building and deepening our ties,” said Mr Sunak.

“This Reciprocal Access Agreement is hugely significant for both our nations. It cements our commitment to the Indo-Pacific and underlines our joint efforts to bolster economic security.”

Negotiations on the deal, to be signed at the historic Tower of London, began in 2021.

Last January, Japan signed a similar deal with Australia, and Tokyo recently overhauled its defence and security policy to address growing pressure from China.

Dr Euan Graham, senior fellow at the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies, described the deal as “quite a significant step up for both countries in terms of their bilateral defence relationship”.

British ships and aircraft can visit Japan and vice-versa, but it is “diplomatically complicated” and requires Foreign Ministry clearance each time.

The new agreement will create a “standing framework” instead.

That will make it easier to “bring a destroyer to visit Yokosuka, or to bring in an army group, or to bring in some Royal Marines who want to train with the Japanese amphibious forces”, Dr Graham said. 

Japan has a pacifist post-war Constitution, which limits its military capacity to ostensibly defensive measures.

But in December, the government approved plans to hike defence spending to 2 per cent of gross domestic product by 2027, up from the traditional 1 per cent, and warned that China poses the “greatest strategic challenge ever” to its security.

Britain has also become increasingly forceful in its approach to China, with Mr Sunak warning last November that Beijing poses a “systemic challenge” to British values and interests.

Britain, Italy and Japan said in December that they will jointly develop a future fighter jet.

The new Global Combat Air Programme is slated to produce its first jets by 2035, merging the three nations’ costly existing research into new aerial war technology, from stealth capacity to high-tech sensors.

In 2022, a British patrol ship took part for the first time in Exercise Keen Sword, the regular Pacific training operation carried out by the Japanese and US navies.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is on a tour of Group of Seven (G-7) allies for security-focused talks, culminating in a meeting with United States President Joe Biden on Friday.

In Paris, Mr Kishida and Mr Emmanuel Macron pledged deeper ties, with the French President promising to maintain “joint actions in the Pacific”, and France’s “unfailing support” against North Korean aggression.

Japan holds the G-7 presidency in 2023, and Mr Kishida has vowed the group will maintain support for Ukraine, which is expected to be discussed in his talks with Mr Sunak.

The pair is also expected to discuss trade, including Britain’s possible accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership.

Signed by 11 Asia-Pacific countries in 2018, the partnership is the region’s biggest free-trade pact. AFP