Policy paper

The Hiroshima Accord

Published 18 May 2023

The Hiroshima Accord:

An enhanced UK-Japan global strategic partnership

The United Kingdom and Japan are connected by our shared values of freedom, democracy, rule of law, fundamental human rights, and open and fair trade. These values are at the heart of our intention to work together for global security, resilience, and innovation.

Our partnership stands at a turning point in history. We are determined to strengthen the free and open international order based on the rule of law, and to uphold the principles of the UN Charter including respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity. Russia’s unprovoked and illegal war of aggression against Ukraine, weaponisation of food and energy resources, and irresponsible nuclear rhetoric threaten our shared security and prosperity, and undermine regional and global security. We reiterate our commitment to the complete, verifiable, and irreversible dismantlement of all North Korea’s weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missiles, and we will continue to cooperate closely towards the immediate resolution of the abductions issue. We call on China to act as a responsible member of the international community. 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. We emphasise 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. Against the backdrop of increasing geopolitical competition, global trends such as climate change and the impact of rapid technological development require a consistent and shared response in order to address effectively these challenges and take advantage of the economic opportunities where present.

At this critical and defining juncture, the Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom and Japan commit to an enhanced Global Strategic Partnership through this political document. 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.

First, recognising that the security and prosperity of the Euro-Atlantic and Indo-Pacific are inseparable, we will strengthen our shared security capabilities to help safeguard global peace and stability. Building on recent landmark defence agreements, we commit to closer consultation on security issues, to carry out an ambitious programme of larger and more complex joint exercises and planning, and resolve to bring our defence and security industries closer together.

Second, firmly recognising that our security is built upon the stability, resilience and dynamism of our economies, we commit to deepening our economic relationship to create shared prosperity and increase trade and investment. We will champion a free, fair, and resilient rules-based international economic order including through the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and commit to a closer partnership on challenges to our economic security. As global leaders in science, technology, and innovation, we will work together to maintain strategic advantage including in emerging technologies such as AI and quantum. We recognise the importance of semiconductors to critical sectors and world-changing digital technologies. To this end, we will establish new partnerships in industrial science, innovation and technology, and in the semiconductor sector.

Third, recognising that global challenges can only be addressed through shared action, we will lead international efforts to deliver a better and more sustainable future for all. We will strengthen our partnership to enable greater deployment of renewable energy. We will also prioritise actions to tackle climate change, work together to accelerate progress on the Sustainable Development Goals, improve the effectiveness of multilateral institutions and the international financial system, and take action to tackle the challenges of the international community, including those faced by developing countries.

Rishi Sunak - Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

Kishida Fumio - Prime Minister of Japan

To cement this partnership, and ensure it delivers for both our countries and contributes to global security, prosperity, and resilience, now and for future generations, we will deliver the following:

1. Interoperable, Resilient, and Cross-Domain Defence and Security Cooperation

As each other’s closest security partners in Asia and in Europe committed to the vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific, we will:

• Maximise the generational opportunity provided by the Global Combat Air Programme to futureproof our Combat Air sectors, while achieving enhanced investment in our people and technology, deepening integration of supply chains. We will bring together Japanese and British defence and security expertise to strengthen our defence industrial base and secure high skilled jobs in our countries.

• Realise the benefits of the landmark Reciprocal Access Agreement through an ambitious programme of larger, more frequent, complex, and practical joint exercises and planning, including through the future deployment of the UK’s Carrier Strike Group to the Indo-Pacific, and work to increase interoperability between the Japan Self-Defense Forces and the British Armed Forces. In doing so, we will enhance our bilateral activities to a higher level, with a view to the possible application of the Japan Self-Defense Forces’ asset protection measure.

• Proactively pursue cooperation in the field of repair, maintenance, and overhaul of visiting assets, recognising the vital importance of such services in ensuring resilient and sustained operations.

• Commit to consult each other on important regional and global security issues and consider measures in response.

• Reinforce the current defence governance structure, including through a new high level defence dialogue to ensure that we pursue all opportunities to strengthen defence cooperation.

• Further reinforce collaboration on outer space, including building global support for norms of responsible space behaviour to maintain a safe, secure and sustainable space environment and reduce space threats. We will continue to deepen defence space cooperation activities, and engage in discussion on a wide range of areas, including on space technologies and industry cooperation.

• Establish a UK-Japan Cyber Partnership that will strengthen our public-private partnerships, advance shared international interests and enhance our cyber capabilities. We will strengthen the Japan-UK Bilateral Consultations on Cyber Issues to advance the full spectrum of cyber cooperation and further reinforce collaboration on promoting the rule of law in cyberspace, responding to emerging threats and enhancing capacity building efforts.

• Coordinate closely in contingency planning for potential evacuation of our respective nationals from third countries.

• Reinforce coordination with our common allies and partners, which augments our robust defence and security cooperation. We will further cooperate in keeping with NATO’s commitment in its 2022 Strategic Concept to strengthen dialogue and cooperation with new and existing NATO partners in the Indo-Pacific and work together to deepen NATO-Japan cooperation.

2. Economic Prosperity and Security Underpinned by Science, Technology, and Innovation

Committing ourselves to a deeper, broader and more resilient economic relationship, underpinned by a coordinated approach to economic security and synergizing our strengths as global leaders in science, technology and innovation, we will:

• Launch a Department for Business and Trade (DBT) – Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) Ministerial dialogue, further strengthening high level UK-Japan collaboration on strategic opportunities and challenges of mutual interest with the engagement of other relevant Ministries, including the UK’s Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) and Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT).

• Fully utilise the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) to realise the benefits for businesses and deepen collaboration on areas of trade and investment, including improving our respective business environments and facilitating access to each other’s markets. We will better support the entire UK-Japan trade and investment ecosystem including by enhancing cooperation in areas like decarbonisation and trade digitalisation.

• Commit to working closely together, with the substantial conclusion of the negotiations for the accession of the UK to the CPTPP, to uphold its strategic values and maintain high-standards in terms of rules and market access. We reaffirm our shared commitment to uphold the rules-based international trading system, with the WTO at its core, and promote a free, fair and secure economic order in the Indo-Pacific and beyond, underpinning a broader strategic commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific.

• Continue to partner closely on economic security issues, including through the Economic Security Dialogue. We will work together on issues such as supply chain resilience, including through the possibility of consulting each other when supply chain shocks occur, all forms of forced or coerced technology transfers and intellectual property theft, and export controls. We share concern for and are strongly opposed to economic coercion and non-market policies and practices which distort the level playing field, and we commit to continue to work together to address such behaviours.

• Support progress of critical minerals cooperation in both countries through a Memorandum of Cooperation (MOC) between relevant ministries concerning critical minerals by the end of the year. This MOC will cement ongoing collaboration on ensuring access to resilient and sustainable sources of critical minerals to bolster our energy security and progress towards net zero through information-sharing, joint-investment and the importance of setting high environmental, social and governance standards.

• Use the upcoming Semiconductor Partnership to explore ambitious joint research and development collaboration across semiconductor technologies, capitalising on our respective strengths including in chip design, advanced packaging, compound semiconductors and advanced materials. We will also work together to improve semiconductor supply chain resilience, both through bilateral initiatives and international cooperation.

• Elevate our existing excellence-driven science and technology relationship to one delivering even greater economic impact that builds our national capabilities. This will be facilitated by a new Industrial Science, Innovation and Technology Implementing Arrangement, supported by new partnership activities among academic institutions, universities and business communities. We will explore options to further streamline our bilateral cooperation in science, technology and innovation, utilising the Joint Committee on Science and Technology Cooperation.

• Continue to accelerate and deepen bilateral collaboration across all areas of the UK-Japan Digital Partnership, including AI, telecoms diversification, and our efforts to operationalise Data Free Flow with Trust (DFFT), recognising the unique opportunities presented by our complementary strengths and strategic relationship on digital and data policy.

• Promote further discussions on AI, noting in particular the transformative social, political and economic potential. Our discussions will focus on promoting human-centric and trustworthy AI and interoperability between AI governance frameworks as well as developing AI governance grounded in our shared values. We will also work closely together in matters of significant interest, for example generative AI and foundation models.

• Take advantage of the health ministerial dialogue to broaden our health science and innovation partnership to tackle shared, future challenges. We will forge stronger partnerships on translational, clinical, and applied health and care research in areas such as genomic medicine, clinical trials, and dementia, work towards international regulatory harmonisation for medicines and medical products, and lead internationally on strengthening clinical trial standards.

• Cooperate to re-vitalise people-to-people exchanges including those in tourism, education through study abroad as well as research cooperation, culture and art, and the working holiday/youth mobility scheme.

3. Leading International Efforts for Global Resilience

Leveraging our robust Global Strategic Partnership to lead international efforts in tackling global challenges, we will:

• Maintain our commitment to keeping a limit of 1.5oC temperature rise within reach and achieving net zero by 2050. Together the UK and Japan will support other countries’ transition to net zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, including through delivery of Just Energy Transition Partnerships that support an accelerated clean energy transition. We will also work together on the development of international standards and technologies to enable a clean energy transition, as well as through the promotion and mobilisation of green and transition finance.

• Commit to holistically addressing energy security, the climate crisis, and geopolitical risks, accelerate the clean energy transition to net-zero GHG emissions by 2050 at the latest, and recognise the importance of promoting energy security and energy affordability. We will work together to accelerate the deployment of clean energy - particularly offshore wind and nuclear. We will share expertise and experience, collaborate on the setting of standards and regulation, and build business partnerships to accelerate the deployment of renewable energies in both countries and in third countries. We welcome the progress of cooperation endorsed by the newly announced Renewable Energy Partnership. We will also work together to develop, by the end of the year at the latest, the Partnership for RISE (Resilient and Inclusive Supply-chain Enhancement) to empower low- and middle-income countries to play a bigger role in the supply chains of clean energy products.

• Affirm our commitment to cooperation on nuclear energy in the following areas: advanced nuclear technologies including Small Modular Reactors and next-generation reactors, nuclear fuels, decommissioning and dismantling, waste management, research and development, skills and diversity, supply chain, fusion, nuclear safety, and public communications.

• Work collectively with partners to improve the effectiveness, inclusivity and equity of multilateral institutions, the international financial system including through supporting implementation of the G20 Multilateral Development Bank Capital Adequacy Framework Review recommendations, and global health architecture to protect the most vulnerable and deliver for all countries.

• Reaffirm the importance of early reform of the UN Security Council, and enhance cooperation to this end, including in the negotiation process of the UN. The UK supports permanent seats in the UNSC for Japan as part of the G4 and Japan appreciates this position.

• Work bilaterally as well as through the G7, G20, and wider forums to tackle the issues that the international community is facing, including addressing the concerns of developing countries, and drive action to accelerate progress towards the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.

• Reaffirm our determination to promote transparent and fair development finance practice and work together to strengthen collaboration between our respective development finance institutions and provide a positive investment offer to developing countries.

• Continue to recognise the importance of working together to respond to the ongoing global food security crisis and to build more resilient, sustainable and inclusive food systems. We will work together to drive forward responsible food and agriculture investment and trade, and drive forward shared priorities.

• Reaffirm our commitment to the ultimate goal of a world without nuclear weapons with undiminished security for all, and continue to uphold the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) as the cornerstone of the global nuclear non-proliferation regime and the foundation for the pursuit of nuclear disarmament and peaceful uses of nuclear energy.