Britain is to hold joint military exercises with the US and Japan as the three nations seek to boost security in the face of increasing Chinese aggression.
Regular trilateral war games will take place in the Indo-Pacific from 2025 to develop the ability of each country’s armed forces to operate together.
The US and its allies are concerned that in the coming years Xi Jinping, the Chinese president, could order his military to seize Taiwan, the democratically governed island that China considers to be its territory.
President Biden has said that US forces would defend Taiwan in the event of a Chinese invasion and the UK could quite easily be dragged into such a conflict. British ministers believe that working more closely with Japan will help to counter Beijing’s growing military ambitions. The UK is already building up its security relationship with Japan through the Tempest programme to develop a next-generation fighter jet.
Grant Shapps, the defence secretary, and his US and Australian counterparts, said on Monday that Japan could help develop sensitive military technology as part of the “pillar two” of the Aukus security pact.
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In the latest announcement on Wednesday, the Ministry of Defence said that the exercises would build on previous operations between the three countries and underline the UK’s commitment to the Indo-Pacific region.
Shapps said that conducting the exercises would send a “strong message to anyone who would seek to undermine the rules-based international order — our defence relationships are not limited by distance and we stand ready to respond to any threat around the globe”.
He added: “A safe and stable Indo-Pacific is vital to our collective security, allowing free and unhindered trade and travel, and our world-leading partnerships with Japan and the US further emphasise our commitment to the region.”
The UK already operates in the region, with HMS Spey and HMS Tamar, two River-class offshore patrol vessels, continuously deployed.
HMS Prince of Wales, the aircraft carrier, will also be deployed to the Indo-Pacific next year to carry out a series of operations and exercises with allies, including a port visit in Japan.
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The Aukus pact, signed in September 2021, is a security alliance primarily concerned with the sharing of nuclear submarine technology in order for Australia to bring into service its first nuclear-powered submarines.
Fumio Kishida, the Japanese prime minister, is currently on a visit to Washington where he has met with Biden in the first state visit to Washington by a Japanese prime minister since Shinzo Abe in 2015.
The pair touted increased joint military cooperation and a new missile defence system on Wednesday, strengthening their alliance with an eye on aggressive actions by China and Russia.
Kishida said that the two leaders discussed tense relations between Taiwan and China and pledged to uphold international order based on the rule of law.
“Unilateral attempts to change the status quo by force or coercion is absolutely unacceptable, wherever it may be,” Kishida said. The US and Japan would continue to respond to such actions, he added, including challenges from China.
