Britain and Japan signed a military “mutual access” agreement

“After years of negotiations, this agreement seals the UK’s commitment to security in the Indo-Pacific,” Sunak’s office said in a statement.

He added that the agreement comes against the backdrop of China’s growing ambitions in the Asia-Pacific region and will allow both countries’ militaries to “plan and conduct larger and more complex exercises and military deployments”.

The signing will be held at the historic Tower of London where the two leaders will visit an exhibition of Japanese armor donated by Japan in 1613 to mark the first Anglo-Japanese trade agreement.

The British leader, who has taken a tough stance on China, stressed the need for cooperation to address the “unprecedented global challenges of our time”.

Sunak noted that London and Tokyo have “stepped up” their rapprochement in recent months.

“We have many things in common: a common vision of the world and the threats and challenges we face, as well as the ambition to use our place in the world for global good”, he reasoned.

The UK and Japan have joined Italy to develop a new generation of fighter jets by 2035.

In a meeting with Fumio Kishida, Rishi Sunak wants to discuss negotiations for the United Kingdom’s entry into the Trans-Pacific Free Trade Partnership (TPFTP) and Japan’s leadership of the G7 in 2023 and assistance to Ukraine. Russian invasion

Fumio Kishida has been touring several G7 countries since Monday, first visiting Paris and Rome.

He is expected in Ottawa, the Canadian capital, on Thursday and will be welcomed by US President Joe Biden in Washington on Friday.

China and Japan, the world’s second and third largest economies respectively, are important trading partners, but relations have soured significantly in recent years, with Beijing showing growing ambitions in the Asia-Pacific region.

Japan, which has called China an “unprecedented strategic challenge” to the country’s security, has continued to complain about Chinese maritime activity in the Senkaku Islands, which are administered by Tokyo but claimed by Beijing.