Countries & Regions

Minister for Foreign Affairs Fumio Kishida held a talk with Rt. Hon. William Hague, Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs of the United Kingdom, at the U.K. Foreign & Commonwealth Office for approximately an hour and 40 minutes from 9 a.m. on April 10 (Wednesday local time) during his stay in London to attend a meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the Group of Eight (G8).

An outline of their meeting is as follows:

1. At the beginning, Minister Kishida expressed heartfelt condolences over the death of Baroness Thatcher, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Next, Minister Kishida said it is important not to be swayed by the repeated provocative acts of North Korea and to make the country understand that repeated provocations do not serve its interest. To this end, Japan hopes to work in close coordination with other countries concerned, he added. Minister Hague said he hopes that issues related to North Korea will be taken up at the G8 Foreign Ministers' Meeting so that the G8 can issue a strong message on the situation.
2. With respect to the relationship between Japan and the United Kingdom, Minister Kishida said the two countries share fundamental values as well as interests and responsibilities on a range of challenges. Japan and the United Kingdom also have in common histories in which free maritime trade provided the foundation of their existence as nations, he noted. Minister Hague agreed. They reaffirmed that the two countries will continue pushing ahead with bilateral cooperation in the areas of defense, security and nuclear energy, as agreed at the Japan-U.K. summit meeting held when Rt. Hon. David Cameron, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, visited Japan last year, as well as cooperation on negotiations for an Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) between Japan and the European Union.
3. The two Ministers exchanged opinions on other issues of concern for the G8, including the situations in Myanmar and Somalia and the prevention of sexual violence during armed conflict. On issues related to Africa, the Ministers agreed that their countries will work together at the G8 conferences chaired by the United Kingdom and at the Fifth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD V) to be held in June in Japan.