UK’s Indo-Pacific tilt through defense pact with Japan ‘exceeds ability, goes against peace trend’

A big question mark hangs over whether the UK has the ability or finances to support its ambition to boost its presence in the Asia-Pacific region while its major security focus lies in Europe, said Chinese observers commenting on the signing of the defense pact between the UK and Japan during Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s visit to London. Kishida and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Wednesday signed the Reciprocal Access Agreement (RAA). According to the Japanese Foreign Ministry, the Japan-UK RAA is an agreement that establishes procedures between the two sides for cooperative activities conducted by the defense force of one country while visiting the other, and defines a status of the visiting force. The UK is the second country after Australia to sign the RAA with Japan.