Starmer invites Japan PM to UK after Tokyo talks

Sir Keir Starmer has invited Japan's Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi to visit the UK following talks in Tokyo, saying the relationship between the countries was the "strongest" it has been "in decades".

The prime minister arrived in Japan after his four-day trip to China, in which he attempted to reboot the UK's relationship with Beijing.

The leaders of UK and Japan said they had discussed their "joint values" and set out plans to strengthen trade and security ties, including boosting defence and partnerships across the Indo-Pacific region.

Any UK visit will depend on the results of snap elections on February 8, with Takaichi's Liberal Democrat party seeking a return to power.

But the meeting at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo comes at a tense moment for the region, following controversial comments from Takaichi suggesting that Japan could be drawn into conflict between China and Taiwan.

Sir Keir said he and his Japanese counterpart agreed on the need to respond with "strength and clarity" to increasing instability in the world, and thanked her for "steadfast leadership in supporting Ukraine".

Ahead of a working dinner, the Japanese PM said that Sir Keir "looked well", adding she had been invited to his Chequers country estate later this year.

"I look forward to our dinner in a moment, and to the meeting that I hope we will have," Sir Keir said following the 20-minute meeting between the leaders.

He added that the UK and Japan "share vital interests and principles" and that he looked "forward to driving that forward together."

He went on to say that the two countries "have a clear interest in free and predictable trade", saying they aimed to improve supply chains in "key areas such as critical minerals".

Japan's leader said she hoped to "build a new era of Japan-UK relations amid the complex crises facing the international community in the 21st Century".

Defence, including the trilateral fighter jet programme the UK and Japan have with Italy and joint military exercises, were expected to be high on the agenda.

Japan, the world's fourth-largest economy, is one of Britain's biggest investors outside Europe.

For Sir Keir, his East Asia trip was about balance - resetting relations with China, while reassuring Japan and other allies that Britain remains committed to regional security and clear-eyed about the risks China poses.

While Takaichi's comments on Taiwan angered Beijing, they are expected to give her a boost in next week's polls.

Jeffrey J HalL - Lecturer at Kanda University of International Studies, said that Sir Keir's stopover in Tokyo was doing her an "enormous favour".

"I think the most important thing from the Japanese perspective is the timing of this visit, which is right in the middle of a major election," he said.

"And Prime Minister Takaichi is basically running on the popularity that she received being the first female prime minister and also being successful at diplomacy."

The Tokyo trip marks the end of Sir Keir's diplomatic meetings in East Asia in which he secured a reduction in tariffs on whisky and the introduction of visa-free travel to China for British citizens. Downing Street said the China visit had also secured £2.2bn in export deals

After a meeting between Sir Keir and Chinese President Xi Jinping, Beijing also agreed to lift sanctions on British parliamentarians.