The UK and Japan on Thursday agreed to an enhanced global strategic partnership in which they characterized peace across the Taiwan Strait as “indispensable” to a safe and prosperous world, and urged China to act responsibly on the world stage.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida signed the Hiroshima Accord in the Japanese city — where this year’s G7 summit is being held until tomorrow — to enhance cooperation in a broad range of areas, including defense.
Citing concerns over global security challenges posed by Russia, North Korea and China, the two sides expressed determination to bolster the rules-based international order and uphold the principles of the UN Charter, including respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Photo: AP
“We call on China to act as a responsible member of the international community,” the accord said. “We share serious concerns over the situation in the East China Sea and the South China Sea, and strongly oppose unilateral attempts to change the status quo by force or coercion anywhere in the world.”
Japan and the UK stressed the need to ensure peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and to resolve differences on cross-strait issues through peaceful means.
“We emphasize that our basic positions on Taiwan remain unchanged, reaffirm the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait as an indispensable element in the security and prosperity of the international community, and call for the peaceful resolution of the cross-strait issue,” the accord read.
The accord was signed to help address the challenges of increasing geopolitical competition, climate change, and the impact of rapid technological development and take advantage of the economic opportunities where present, the two sides said.
“We are the closest of partners and will stand shoulder to shoulder in tackling the unprecedented global challenges we now face, promoting security, resilience, and prosperity, and advancing the vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific,” they said.
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