UK Minister for Defence Procurement in Tokyo

Japan's Minister of Defence Nobuo Kishi welcomed Britain's Minister for Defence Procurement Jeremy Quin, saying that his visit shows that Japan and the UK's cooperation on military defence had developed.

Kishi also touted the formation of a new security partnership between the United States, Australia and the United Kingdom.

Japan is seeking to expand its military cooperation beyond its traditional alliance with the United States as China's navy expands and increasingly presses its territorial claims.

The British aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth made its first Japanese port call earlier this month.

Before arriving in Japan, the carrier participated in a joint exercise with warships from the United States, the Netherlands, Canada and Japan as part of efforts to achieve a "free and open Indo-Pacific" vision led by Washington and Tokyo.