Japan and the United Kingdom have signed a “hugely significant” new defence deal as Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who recently unveiled his country’s biggest military buildup since World War II, seeks to bolster security ties with G7 partners amid worries about China’s growing power.

Kishida and the UK’s Prime Minister Rishi Sunak signed the agreement at the Tower of London on Wednesday, paving the way for the two countries to deploy forces on each other’s soil for training and other operations.

The inking of the reciprocal access defence agreement, which was agreed to in principle last May, comes a month after the two countries teamed up with Italy on a new fighter jet programme.

Kishida was in London as part of a tour of the Group of Seven countries, which includes France, Italy, Canada and the United States.

Japan holds the G7 presidency and Kishida will host the group’s leaders for a summit in Hiroshima in May.

The Japan-UK deal is the latest sign of Tokyo’s efforts to strengthen its alliances in the face of challenges posed by China, which it has described as the “greatest strategic challenge ever” to its security.

The agreement also forms part of the UK’s Indo-Pacific tilt in foreign policy as it builds security and trade ties in the region. The UK has also become increasingly forceful in its approach to China, with Sunak warning in November that Beijing poses a “systemic challenge” to the country’s values and interests.

Sunak’s office called Wednesday’s deal with Japan “the most significant defence agreement between the two countries in more than a century”.

“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,” Sunak said in a statement.

“In this increasingly competitive world, it is more important than ever that democratic societies continue to stand shoulder to shoulder as we navigate the unprecedented global challenges of our time.”

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

UK ships and aircraft can visit Japan and vice-versa but the process is “diplomatically complicated” and requires foreign ministry clearance each time, he told the AFP news agency. The new agreement will create a “standing framework” instead, making 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,” he said.

Visits to Rome, Paris

China, meanwhile, criticised the move, with foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin saying the Asia Pacific region was “not an arena for geopolitical games”. He told a briefing in Beijing that China was a partner for cooperation and “not a challenge”.

“The old thinking of bloc confrontation should not be introduced into the Asia-Pacific region,” he added.

Japan has recently overhauled its defence and security policy to address what it calls growing pressure from China. These include plans to increase its defence spending to two percent of gross domestic product by 2027, up from the traditional one percent level. That would make Japan’s defence budget the world’s third-largest.

Kishida’s visit to London follows visits to the capitals of France and Italy.

On the Rome leg of his tour, Kishida and his Italian counterpart, Giorgia Meloni, agreed to strengthen ties in a range of spheres including the economy, trade and defence.

“We have agreed to elevate our relations to the level of a strategic partnership,” Meloni told reporters in a brief statement after the meeting on Tuesday. This would entail a mechanism of bilateral consultations on foreign policy and defence which will cover “all the areas of global and regional themes of mutual interest”, she added.

Among the fields of heightened cooperation, Kishida cited diplomacy, investment, railways and cinema.

He also said he hoped the Japan-UK-Italy accord to build a next-generation fighter jet would help stimulate industrial cooperation between Rome and Tokyo and “lay the foundations for medium- and long-term bilateral cooperation between the two countries on security issues”.

And in Paris on Monday, Kishida and Emmanuel Macron pledged more security cooperation in the Asia-Pacific, with the French president promising to maintain “joint actions in the Pacific” and his country’s “unfailing support” against North Korean nuclear and missile threats.

For his part, Kishida described France as a “leading partner for the realisation of a free and open Indo-Pacific”.

“As unilateral attempts to change by force the status quo in the East and South China Sea intensify and the security environment becomes increasingly tense, we wish to continue to cooperate with France,” he said at a joint briefing, alluding to joint military drills.

Kishida also said the G7 would continue to back Ukraine after Russia invaded its pro-Western neighbour last year.

“The G7, faced with the Russian aggression, will rally to continue and reinforce strict sanctions against Russia and keep up strong support for Ukraine,” he said.

Kishida’s next stop will be Canada and he will end his G7 tour with a meeting with US President Joe Biden on Friday.

The Japanese leader’s goals for his tour were to “highlight the strength of Japan’s alliance with the US and growing network of strategic partners in order to boost deterrence versus China and North Korea,” said Jeff Kingston, professor of history and Asian studies at Temple University Japan.

“He also seeks to explain the transformation of Japan’s national security policy announced last month. The doubling of the defense budget over the next five years and plans to acquire counter strike capability mark a tectonic shift in Japan’s security posture,” he told Al Jazeera.

“Kishida also wants NATO support for containing China by boosting the Free and Open IndoPacific concept and explain Tokyo’s concerns about China’s intentions towards Taiwan,” he added. “The risks of an invasion seem exaggerated but have been politically useful to justify Tokyo’s shift on security.” (Al Jazeera)

•PHOTO: Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida (left) and the UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak smile after signing a defence agreement at the Tower of London on January 11, 2023 in London, England [Carl Court/Pool via Reuters]

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