[Title] UK-Japan Joint Statement
1. The UK and Japan have a global strategic partnership, underpinned by mutual interests, common values and a commitment to upholding the rules-based international system. Prime Minister May’s visit to Japan in August 2017 set a new shared vision for cooperation and delivered a step-change in our economic and security engagement. Today we have reaffirmed the Joint Vision Statement and Joint Declarations on Security Cooperation and Prosperity Cooperation.
2. On the basis of greater development in our cooperation than ever before since Prime Minister May’s visit, we confirm that UK-Japan relations have been elevated to the next level, as the closest of friends and partners in order to maintain the rules-based international order and to promote global and regional security, and free trade.
3. As the UK leaves the EU, we will now deepen our strategic partnership further, looking ahead to the challenges and opportunities of the next decade. We again confirmed that it is of mutual benefit to work together with partners, to maintain a free and open Indo-Pacific region. Together, we will build connectivity and strengthen security in Asia and beyond, enhance our economic partnership, and harness strengths in science and innovation to shape the technologies of the future, as well as work together to tackle global poverty and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.
Strengthening Connectivity and Security
4. As strategic partners, we will continue to extend and deepen our security partnership to protect our shared interests and uphold the rules based international system in support of international and regional security. To facilitate this effort, we decide that the Fourth Japan-UK Foreign and Defence Ministerial Meeting be held in Tokyo in spring 2019.
5. We will develop a more connected Indo-Pacific region in support of the rules- based international order through practical cooperation on connectivity and security. To this end, and contributing to a free and open Indo-Pacific, we will strengthen intergovernmental cooperation including through a designated dialogue mechanism, and including cooperation with third countries and engagement with the private sector in support of quality infrastructure investment in accordance with international standards, such as: open access, transparency, resilience, economic efficiency including life-cycle cost, and fiscal soundness. Moreover, we will strengthen cooperation at international fora including the G7/G20 to consolidate those and other elements of quality infrastructure as international standards.
6. We will strengthen maritime security cooperation on issues such as Maritime Domain Awareness, including through potential sharing of shipping information and intend to make an arrangement regarding maritime security cooperation, to maintain and promote a free and open Indo-Pacific. We will promote cooperation on maritime security and safety with third countries through initiatives such as joint exercises, port calls, PKO-related cooperation, and enhanced capacity building in South Asia, Southeast Asia and Africa through our various forms of discussion. We will also increase cooperation to enhance counter-terrorism capacity of third countries in South Asia and Southeast Asia, in areas such as aviation security, forensics and counter-IED. We will continue to cooperate on security preparations for Japan’s Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020.
7. We are committed to extending further our defence partnership. We will increase combined exercises between our defence forces in Europe and the Indo-Pacific region. We will continue to work on a framework to improve administrative, policy and legal procedures to facilitate joint operations and exercises between the Japan Self-Defense Forces (JSDF) and British Armed Forces, looking ahead to future possible negotiations. The UK will deploy the fourth Royal Navy ship, HMS Montrose, to Japan in early 2019, which will engage in monitoring and surveillance activity against illicit maritime activities in order to support the implementation of relevant United Nations Security Council Resolutions (UNSCRs) on North Korea. We will develop defence industrial partnerships as well as governmental cooperative projects for future capability, including the possibility of exploring cooperation on future combat aircraft and air to air missiles.
8. We will continue to engage in dialogue with matters concerning the United Nations including United Nations Security Council reform and the implementation of the UN Secretary General’s wider reform agenda.
9. We reiterated the importance of the international community’s commitment to the complete, verifiable and irreversible dismantlement of all North Korea’s weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and ballistic missiles as well as its related programs and facilities, in accordance with relevant UNSCRs. We urge North Korea to take concrete steps towards this end and call upon all UN member states to fully implement relevant UNSCRs which are to be maintained until the aforementioned goal is achieved. In this context, we also reaffirmed our commitment, including through surveillance of suspicious maritime activities such as illicit ship-to-ship transfers involving North Korean-flagged vessels. We continue to also cooperate closely towards the early resolution of the abductions issue. We remain concerned over the situation in the East China Sea and the South China Sea and strongly opposed to any unilateral action that seeks to change the status quo and increase tensions including the militarisation of disputed maritime features. We reaffirm our continued support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. We condemn the use on 4 March 2018 of a nerve agent in Salisbury that also resulted in casualties in Amesbury in the UK as confirmed by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) technical assistance visit report. We will continue to disrupt the hostile activities of foreign intelligence networks in our countries, and uphold the prohibition of chemical weapons. The UK and Japan remain concerned about the situation in Burma/Myanmar and decide to coordinate closely to ensure the repatriation of refugees to Rakhine will take place in a voluntary, safe, dignified and sustainable manner while upholding returnees’ human rights.
10.We reiterated our commitment to promoting a free, open, peaceful, fair and secure cyberspace and in this regard, we will collaborate in multilateral and bilateral fora. We will work together to deter, respond to and mitigate cyber- attacks and call out irresponsible state behaviour. We will strengthen cooperation in protecting technology from cyber-enabled intellectual property theft and other threats. We will improve the security of consumer internet- connected devices and combat botnets, referring to the guidelines set out in the UK’s Code of Practice for Consumer IoT security, and Japan’s IoT Security Guidelines and the Cyber/Physical Security Framework and working together to align our approaches to protect our citizens and enable business as they use these new technologies. As our physical and digital spaces become increasingly connected, we will discuss our risk management approaches to ensure the cybersecurity of global cross-sectoral supply chains.
11.We reiterate our commitment to promoting the long-term sustainability of outer space activities and the rule of law, and welcome the progress of industrial cooperation in outer space.
12.The relevant elements above will be raised in our various forms of discussion and incorporated into the joint Action Plan on security and defence co-operation.
Enhancing Economic Partnership
13. Japan and the UK are among the strongest champions of free trade, with shared values as open and inter-connected economies. Japan welcomes the progress made by the UK and the EU on reaching an agreement on a Withdrawal Agreement and a Political Declaration setting out the framework for the future relationship. These agreements are an important step to avoid a no deal scenario and provide transparency, predictability and legal stability, including by establishing the implementation period.
14. Japan welcomed the UK’s effort to meet the requests of and heed the concerns of Japanese businesses including by holding a Business Roundtable for Japanese businesses in the UK hosted by the Prime Minister in February 2018. Japan highly values the UK’s commitments to ensuring a comfortable environment for businesses in the UK, and to making utmost efforts to secure legal stability and avoid a no deal scenario and disruption to business within and after the implementation period. In line with both Japan and the UK’s desire for legal stability during the implementation period, Japan and the UK confirmed their intention to ensure the continued applicability of the Japan-EU international agreements, including the Japan-EU EPA when it comes into force, between Japan and the UK during the implementation period, as per the UK-EU Withdrawal Agreement. We also confirmed our intention to ensure new Japan- UK agreements are made as soon as possible, taking into account the end of the implementation period.
15. We will build on our previous commitment to use the Japan-EU EPA as the basis for the future economic partnership between Japan and the UK. In line with our commitment to free trade, we will make the new partnership as ambitious, high standard and mutually beneficial as the Japan-EU EPA. We shared the view that ensuring business continuity, including by providing transparency, predictability and legal stability, is paramount. We will work quickly to establish the economic partnership, with the intention that it should come into force as soon as possible. While recognising the need to expeditiously make such a partnership, we will exert our best efforts to make this new partnership more ambitious and enhanced in areas of shared interests.
16.Japan reconfirms its support for the UK potentially acceding to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership.
17.While it remains the UK’s utmost priority to agree a deal with the EU, the UK and Japan discussed the potential serious implications of a no deal scenario, and confirmed the intention that officials should work together on maintaining continuity of cooperation under the trade and other international agreements as far as possible.
18.We will work together in support of global free and fair trade and will continue to fight protectionism, including all unfair trade practices. We will work closely in the G7 and G20 in this regard. We will seek to advance discussions on WTO reform, including (1) reforming WTO rules to better address the root causes of trade tensions, (2) advancing discussions on digital trade, (3) enhancing the WTO’s notification and monitoring functions, and (4) improving the functioning of the dispute settlement system. The UK will continue to make its effort in its process to establish independent WTO schedules in a transparent manner, which Japan appreciates. Japan also supports the UK’s accession to the Government Procurement Agreement.
19.The UK welcomed Japan’s decision which led to opening its markets to UK beef and sheep meat exports.
20.We will deepen our financial services partnership, cooperating on financial market fragmentation, financial innovation, aging and its policy implications, sustainable finance, and strengthening the role of women in the financial services industry, including through the UK-Japan Financial Dialogue.
Promoting Innovation and Growth
21.As two of the most innovative economies in the world, we will build a new partnership on science, research and innovation to drive growth and address the grand challenges of our time. We will jointly deliver solutions benefitting both our economies and societies.
22.We will enable joint research programmes with a new cooperation facilitation mechanism between our science ministries and funding agencies. We will create an action plan with specific measures relating to the areas of cooperation on science, innovation and growth through the UK-Japan Joint Committee on Cooperation in Science and Technology.
23.Taking advantage of opportunities such as Japan’s G20 Presidency, we will jointly explore opportunities to accelerate energy innovation, including the deployment of hydrogen technologies and carbon capture, utilisation and storage. We welcome the Tokyo Statement which was released at the Hydrogen Energy Ministerial Meeting.
24.We will share best practice on use cases and efficient radio spectrum utilisation of 5G, which is expected to be the basis for creating innovation. We will also support our innovative businesses to capitalise on the technologies of the future that depend on a rich supply of data and secure trust by cooperating on the principles and methodologies that will govern its ethical, secure, and free flow. We will respect frameworks for privacy and data protection and will address discriminatory trade practices that act as barriers to the flow of information.
25.We will encourage collaboration between the Alan Turing Institute, and RIKEN Center for Advanced Intelligence Project (AIP), Research Organization of Information and Systems National Institute of Informatics (NII), and National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) on artificial intelligence. We will explore opportunities to increase collaboration on robotics for hazardous environments.
26.Together we will enable quality longer life for our citizens by encouraging innovation and the utilisation of new technologies such as robots, AI and IoT in assisted living. In this regard, we will cooperate to launch a UK-Japan Smart Assisted Living collaboration and showcase the work of our businesses and innovators, at events such as Japan’s Well Aging Society Summit and Global Round Table for Dementia. We welcome cooperation between Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development (AMED) and Medical Research Council (MRC) based on their MOC signed in 2017, and specifically joint work on infectious diseases and regenerative medicine starting in 2019. We will also work together toward the success of Nutrition for Growth (N4G) as well as the Global Nutrition Summit in Tokyo in 2020, following the UK’s initiative during the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
27.We will support and collaborate for the development of start-ups, including through J-Startup, with advanced technologies and vitalising ecosystems by utilising functions of Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO), Department for International Trade (DIT), Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) to help start-ups exploring business in both countries.
28.We welcome the progress made in the Industrial Policy Dialogue between BEIS and the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) and will further explore cooperation in the fields of space, aviation, energy and climate change, advanced manufacturing, and the bio-economy.
29.We will continue to nurture deeper mutual appreciation and give new momentum to cement people-to-people relations between our countries. We welcome the Grand Opening of Japan House London with the attendance of the Duke of Cambridge last September, which will provide a strong platform for Japanese culture in the UK. We also continue to work together to celebrate “UK in Japan 2019-20”, and the Japan Season of Culture 2019-2020, which will bridge the Rugby World Cup Japan 2019 and Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020, and showcase the UK and Japan’s wide cultural, science and business offers. We remain updated on the Japanese private initiative to donate cherry trees to the UK.