Britain and Japan said on Thursday they would cooperate in countering the threat posed by North Korea, two days after it fired a missile over northern Japan, and will call on China to exert its leverage.
Prime Minister Theresa May, looking to strengthen relations with one of her closest allies ahead of Brexit, is visiting Japan as it responds to an increasing military threat.
Terming North Korea’s missile program “a global threat”, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told a news conference that Japan and Britain would cooperate.
“It is very meaningful that Prime Minister May and I agreed to further strengthen pressure on North Korea and to call on China to play a larger role,” he added.
May agreed, noting that China, North Korea’s lone major ally, had been involved in U.N. Security Council debate earlier this week.
“China does have a particular position in this, they have leverage on North Korea and I believe we should be encouraging China to exercise that leverage to do what we all want – which is to ensure that North Korea is not conducting these illegal acts.”
May toured Japan’s flagship Izumo helicopter carrier for a military briefing with Minister of Defence Itsunori Onodera before attending a national security meeting.
May and Abe agreed on a joint declaration on security cooperation, including plans for British soldiers to take part in military exercises on Japanese soil and for collaboration to address the threat of cyber and militant attacks when Japan hosts the Olympics in 2020.
North Korea featured heavily in the talks after it launched a ballistic missile on Tuesday that passed over Japanese territory, prompting international condemnation.
May’s office had said the two leaders were expected to discuss the possibility of further sanctions on North Korea, but neither Abe nor May touched on the issue at the news conference.
The Global Times, a publication of the official People’s Daily of China’s ruling Communist Party, criticized an earlier comment of May’s comment calling for more pressure from China.
“Beijing does not need London to teach it how to deal with North Korea,” the newspaper said.
