Japan to sign military pact with UK as allies eye China threat

4 comments

1. Kana Inagaki in Tokyo and Demetri Sevastopulo in Washington.

   Excerpt:

   >Japan and the UK are set to sign a major defence pact in December that will enable the countries to enhance co-operation with the US in the Indo-Pacific and boost deterrence against the rising threat from China.

   >The countries will sign a Reciprocal Access Agreement (RAA), according to two people familiar with the talks.

   >It will follow a similar deal Japan signed with Australia in January and is another sign of Tokyo forging deeper defence ties with allies and partners to prepare for the possibility of a war with China over Taiwan.

   >The pact will make joint exercises and logistics co-operation between the nations easier. It will also set a legal framework to simplify cumbersome bureaucratic red tape for the entry of troops into each other’s countries.

   > 

   >Japan is also in advanced talks with the US to acquire Tomahawk cruise missiles which would allow it to strike targets in eastern China, according to people with knowledge of the discussions.

   >In a statement following a meeting between US secretary of state Antony Blinken and Japanese foreign minister Yoshimasa Hayashi in Germany on Thursday, the state department said the two diplomats discussed the “imperative of maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait”.

   *Financial Times*, 5 November 2022 17:17 GMT-4.

2. Interesting. I remember reading a while ago Japan and the UK had a pact before the First World War

3. Makes sense. If hostilities between China and Taiwan explode, it’s very likely North Korea would start trouble too.

4. Paradox game pop up.