The UK and Japan agreed to deepen defense and economic ties, visiting British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said yesterday.
“We set out a clear priority to build an even deeper partnership in the years to come,” Starmer said after a bilateral meeting in Tokyo. “That includes working together to strengthen our collective security, across the Euro-Atlantic and in the Indo-Pacific.”
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said they agreed to hold a meeting of British and Japanese foreign and defense ministers this year, adding that she wanted to discuss “cooperation towards realizing a free and open Indo-Pacific, the Middle East situation and Ukraine situation” with Starmer.
Photo: AP
Starmer arrived on a one-day Tokyo stop after a four-day visit in China, which drew warnings from US President Donald Trump.
Trump said it was “very dangerous” for its close ally to be dealing with China, although Starmer brushed off those comments.
Tokyo’s ties with Beijing have deteriorated since Takaichi suggested in November that Japan could intervene militarily during a potential attack on Taiwan.
Starmer met with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and Premier Li Qiang (李強) on Thursday, with both sides highlighting the need for closer ties.
He also signed a series of agreements there, with Downing Street announcing Beijing had agreed to visa-free travel for British citizens visiting China for less than 30 days.
No start date for that arrangement has been given yet.
Takaichi said the two leaders agreed that a bolstering of supply chains “including important minerals is urgently needed.”
There is concern that Beijing could choke off exports of the rare earths crucial for making everything from electric cars to missiles.
China, the world’s leading producer of such minerals, announced new export controls in October on rare earths and associated technologies.
They have also been a major sticking point in trade negotiations between China and the US.
The UK, Japan and Italy are also developing a new fighter jet after Tokyo relied for decades on the US for military hardware.
MAKING WAVES: China’s maritime militia could become a nontraditional threat in war, clogging up shipping lanes to prevent US or Japanese intervention, a report said About 1,900 Chinese ships flying flags of convenience and fishing vessels that participated in China’s military exercises around Taiwan last month and in January last year have been listed for monitoring, Coast Guard Administration (CGA) Deputy Director-General Hsieh Ching-chin (謝慶欽) said yesterday. Following amendments to the Commercial Port Act (商港法) and the Law of Ships (船舶法) last month, the CGA can designate possible berthing areas or deny ports of call for vessels suspected of loitering around areas where undersea cables can be accessed, Oceans Affairs Council Minister Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) said. The list of suspected ships, originally 300, had risen to about
DAREDEVIL: Honnold said it had always been a dream of his to climb Taipei 101, while a Netflix producer said the skyscraper was ‘a real icon of this country’ US climber Alex Honnold yesterday took on Taiwan’s tallest building, becoming the first person to scale Taipei 101 without a rope, harness or safety net. Hundreds of spectators gathered at the base of the 101-story skyscraper to watch Honnold, 40, embark on his daredevil feat, which was also broadcast live on Netflix. Dressed in a red T-shirt and yellow custom-made climbing shoes, Honnold swiftly moved up the southeast face of the glass and steel building. At one point, he stepped onto a platform midway up to wave down at fans and onlookers who were taking photos. People watching from inside
Japan’s strategic alliance with the US would collapse if Tokyo were to turn away from a conflict in Taiwan, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said yesterday, but distanced herself from previous comments that suggested a possible military response in such an event. Takaichi expressed her latest views on a nationally broadcast TV program late on Monday, where an opposition party leader criticized her for igniting tensions with China with the earlier remarks. Ties between Japan and China have sunk to the worst level in years after Takaichi said in November that a hypothetical Chinese attack on Taiwan could bring about a Japanese
The WHO ignored early COVID-19 warnings from Taiwan, US Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services Jim O’Neill said on Friday, as part of justification for Washington withdrawing from the global health body. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Thursday said that the US was pulling out of the UN agency, as it failed to fulfill its responsibilities during the COVID-19 pandemic. The WHO “ignored early COVID warnings from Taiwan in 2019 by pretending Taiwan did not exist, O’Neill wrote on X on Friday, Taiwan time. “It ignored rigorous science and promoted lockdowns.” The US will “continue international coordination on infectious
RSS