According to international media reports, the agreement is the latest sign of London's growing interest in the Asia-Pacific region, and Tokyo'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 others' territory for training and other operations.Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's office called it "the most significant defence agreement between the two countries in more than a century".The agreement will "accelerate defence and security cooperation and allow the UK and Japan to deploy forces in one another’s countries," the office said."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."Japan last January signed a similar accord with Australia, and Tokyo has recently overhauled its defence and security policy to address growing pressure from China.Japan has a pacifist post-war constitution, which limits its military capacity to ostensibly defensive measures.But last month, the government approved plans to hike defence spending to two percent of GDP by 2027, up from the traditional one-percent level, 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 Sunak warning in November that Beijing poses a "systemic challenge" to UK values and interests.The UK, Italy and Japan said last month that they will jointly develop a future fighter jet.