Prime Minister Liz Truss meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida | 20 September 2022

Today, the Prime Minister met with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at the General Assembly of the United Nations in New York.

Prime Minister Kishida conveyed his condolences on Her Majesty The Queen’s passing. The Prime Minister thanked him for his remarks and said that it was an honour for the United Kingdom to host Their Imperial Highnesses at the state funeral.

Prime Minister Kishida praised the United Kingdom’s dedication to Japan and the Indo-Pacific region, as seen by our Dialogue Partnership with ASEAN, AUKUS, and application to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership. The Prime Minister thanked the Japanese Prime Minister for his support of the United Kingdom’s application.

The leaders looked forward to expanding the relationship between the United Kingdom and Japan, both if the United Kingdom joins the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and through investments in our shared defence and security, such as the Future Combat Air System programme.

The Prime Minister showed respect for the economic ideology of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and highlighted her ideas for changing the British economy to stimulate economic development. The leaders committed to collaborate in order to enhance our economic and energy security.

“The Prime Minister condemned China’s recent provocations over Taiwan, which threatened Japan’s Special Economic Zone. The leaders resolved to work together to tackle the strategic threat posed by China.

“The Prime Minister and Prime Minister Kishida agreed on the importance of likeminded democracies working together, including through international institutions like the G7, to constrain economic, security and other threats from authoritarian regimes.”