Japan visit is chance to forge closer defence ties

Theresa May should be prepared to talk military cooperation as much as trade with Shinzo Abe

Theresa May’s priority when she arrives in Japan for talks today will be to forge closer trade ties ahead of Brexit. But following North Korea’s latest act of provocation in launching a ballistic missile across Japanese territory, Tokyo may well be expecting the Prime Minister to offer a great deal more than incentives to build new car plants.

There is a tendency in Whitehall security circles to see the constant sabre-rattling by North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un as a regional issue that is best handled by local powers such as China. When Britain has more pressing concerns, such as destroying Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, and containing acts of aggression by Vladimir Putin’s Russia, policymakers argue they have enough on their plates without having to concern themselves with the deranged antics of a communist despot.

Yet, as US president Donald Trump warned yesterday, North Korea is now a global problem. “The world has received North Korea’s latest message loud and clear,” he said. It is a message, moreover, that will distinguish between those who are, and those who are not, willing to confront Pyongyang. And in that context Mrs May can expect her Japanese hosts to seek reassurance that Britain is prepared to do a lot more than utter mere platitudes at the UN about bringing North Korea under control.

Trade talks are all very well, particularly with a country which has more than 1,000 companies operating in the UK employing 140,000 people, with Japan’s direct investment in Britain estimated at 10 trillion yen (£71 billion). And the Japanese, who were vocal in their opposition to Brexit during the referendum, have clearly got over their reservations, with Nissan this week announcing that it is to increase production at its Sunderland car plant by a fifth.

But as Britain contemplates its post-brexit global role, it needs to be able to offer a great deal more than favourable trade deals if it is to forge alliances and re-establish its position as one of the world’s leading powers.

Boris Johnson, the Foreign Secretary, was subjected to much ridicule when he suggested, during a visit to Australia earlier in the summer, that one of the first assignments for Britain’s new 65,000-ton Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers would be to conduct exercises in the Asia Pacific region. Yet that is precisely the kind of language that our allies, old and new, want to hear as Britain redefines its international image beyond the confines of the EU.

It is certainly the kind of talk that will reassure Japan’s prime minister Shinzo Abe as he considers how to react to the latest act of unprovoked aggression by Pyongyang, which resulted in millions of Japanese civilians having to take to shelters as the North Korean Hwasong-12 ballistic missile – designed specifically to carry nuclear warheads – passed overhead.

Britain already enjoys close defence ties with Japan, with the two countries earlier this year agreeing to work together on the development of a new generation of stealth fighter jets. And, if the North Korean crisis continues to escalate, there is plenty of scope for even closer cooperation.

Given that London is nearer to Pyongyang than is New York, this could become a pressing national necessity if North Korea develops the technology to fire nuclear-armed ballistic missiles, particularly as, at present, we do not possess the missile technology to defend ourselves against such an attack.

Building closer alliances with countries like Japan would also be an antidote to suggestions that Britain’s ability to defend itself will be compromised by Brexit, as Michel Barnier, the EU’S chief negotiator, suggested at the weekend. Mr Barnier believes that, because British ministers responsible for defence and security will no longer be able to attend meetings with their EU counterparts, the UK will, as a result, be more vulnerable to attack.

But in his desperation to demean Britain’s bargaining position, Mr Barnier overlooks the fact that, collectively, Britain’s defence, intelligence and security infrastructure is significantly more advanced than any other European country – with the possible exception of France.

Furthermore, at a time when most of our European neighbours are failing miserably to meet their commitments on defence spending, falling well below the minimum Nato requirement of 2 per cent of GDP, the estimated £178 billion the UK government is to invest in military kit over the next decade should enhance Britain’s reputation as Europe’s pre-eminent military power. When the two new aircraft carriers, for example, become fully operational, they will be the most powerful warships in Europe.

If the likes of Mr Barnier will not acknowledge the contribution Britain can make to safeguarding the EU’S security, then now is the time for the Government to begin deepening ties with countries like Japan which would like to collaborate with London rather than, as currently seems to be the case with Brussels, always seek to belittle it.