“We have a strong connection with Japan through our shared values of freedom, democracy, rule of law, fundamental human rights, and open and fair trade,” said Shapps’ deputy, Defense Procurement Minister James Cartlidge. “We both recognize that the security and prosperity of the Euro Atlantic and Indo Pacific are inseparable.”
GCAP was only the start. It was confirmed last month that Japan would join a subsection of the AUKUS nuclear submarine program between the U.S, U.K. and Australia, focused on artificial intelligence and quantum computing.
Long before the announcement, AUKUS had already earned an emblematic new nickname in Tokyo: “JAUKUS.”
Teeth chatter about Trump 2.0
Japan’s new approach to defense and security feels more urgent in Tokyo given the possibility of Trump’s return to the White House next year. With fewer moderate voices around him this time — and no Abe to bend his ear — Trump’s potential comeback has fueled fears about America’s commitment to allies from Kyiv to Tokyo.
“It is extremely difficult nowadays to find anybody who is both rational and pragmatic in thinking about foreign and security strategy in Trump’s camp,” said the Japanese academic Hosoya, sitting in his cramped, book-filled office in Keio University. “Trump 2.0 would be totally, radically different from 1.0.”
Kobayashi, the press secretary of the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, declined to comment on the coming U.S. election — but it’s clear Japan sees British influence in Washington as a possible helping hand. Britain is “an important actor in the international scene,” she noted tactfully, adding that the U.K. and Japan must push their allies to make a “continued contribution to the world.”