Britain and Japan held their tenth Foreign Ministers’ Strategic Dialogue in Tokyo on 20 April, proving that two countries can place the entire globe on a conference table and still leave the biscuits waiting for a decision.
Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper met Japanese Foreign Minister Motegi for talks covering security, economic prosperity, science and technology, clean energy and a generous selection of international crises. The joint statement then attempted to make this vast collection of subjects look like one coherent plan, which is diplomatic language for putting several filing cabinets in the same corridor and calling it a strategy.
Japan and the UK described themselves as close friends and partners, linked by shared values and a commitment to a free, open and fair international order. They also backed deeper cooperation on defence, trade, cyber security, critical minerals, offshore wind, nuclear power and fusion. Somewhere, a spreadsheet has realised that it may now be responsible for the future of civilisation.
The statement reaffirmed cooperation on the Global Combat Air Programme with Italy, future military exercises, economic partnerships and the rules based trading system. It also addressed conflict and instability in Ukraine, the Middle East, the Indo Pacific, North Korea, Sudan and elsewhere. The meeting therefore achieved the rare diplomatic feat of being both highly specific and approximately the size of an atlas.
There was even room for the United Nations, arms control, development, energy resilience and net zero by 2050. The document did not include a section called “and anything else we remember before lunch”, but the agenda was already carrying enough weight to qualify for its own seat at the table.
Britain and Japan said they wanted to elevate their cooperation to new heights. This sounds impressive until someone asks whether the lift works, who has the access card and why the next meeting needs a separate 2+2 to discuss the progress made by the first meeting.
The dialogue produced no magic wand. It produced a serious commitment to keep talking about serious commitments, surrounded by enough strategic nouns to make a filing cabinet request diplomatic immunity. The globe has listened carefully, taken notes in two languages and now expects a meeting to approve the minutes of the meeting that will approve the minutes of this one.
Source: GOV.UK.
