Visit to Japan | Mark Carney discusses defence, minerals and cybersecurity
(Tokyo) Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney took advantage of a brief visit to Japan on Friday evening to meet his counterpart Sanae Takaichi, and discuss the strengthening of ties between the two countries, particularly in terms of security and the economy.
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In Tokyo, Carney concludes a tour where he successively visited India to conclude agreements on critical minerals and uranium supplies and Australia, where he spoke in particular on the war in the Middle East.
“The visit of Mark (Carney), in this difficult international context, is very significant,” welcomed Mr.me Takaichi during a joint statement.
Speaking alternately in Japanese, English and French, Mr. Carney, who is due to return to Canada on Saturday, spoke of a partnership comprising “six priority areas”.
“First, and most importantly, we are strengthening our cooperation in security and defense through information sharing, technology transfers and cooperation in the field of maritime security,” he said, also referring to issues related to “cybersecurity”.
On the economic front, the Canadian Prime Minister hopes that the two countries will strengthen their “economic security through robust supply chains and strategic, coherent technologies”, citing in particular “reliable access to space communications, semiconductors, rare earths, AI and the sovereign cloud”.
It also promises to “strengthen trade relations and investments” and aims to “link the Trans-Pacific Partnership to the European Union trade bloc” without giving details.
Among other priorities, Carney cited the areas of “energy and food security”, “climate” and “people-to-people exchanges” between the two nations.
During his visit to Australia this week, he spoke on the conflict in the Middle East saying that US-Israeli strikes against Iran appeared “incompatible with international law”, while welcoming a change of political power in Tehran and supporting efforts to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.
On Thursday, he did not rule out his country’s military participation in the escalating war in the Middle East.
Reduce dependence on the United States
In Australia, he also reiterated his call, launched at the World Economic Forum in Davos at the end of January, for “middle powers” to unite to face “hegemonic” forces.
As a staunch defender of the rules-based international order, Japan – another power of comparable size to Canada – finds itself in a delicate position in the international context.
Japan is a close ally of the United States, which maintains around 60,000 troops there and whose support is essential as China increasingly asserts its power in the region.
The world’s fourth largest economy, Japan is also the fifth largest importer of oil, around 70% of which passes through the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has virtually closed.
At the same time, the historically delicate relations between Japan and China have been strained since the Japanese prime minister suggested in November that Tokyo could intervene militarily in the event of an attack on Taiwan, an island over which Beijing claims sovereignty.
Relations between China and Canada are also complicated: Mr. Carney visited China in January and signed a trade deal, after years of mutual arrests and tariff disputes.
The Canadian prime minister’s tour is part of efforts to reduce Canada’s overdependence on its American neighbor under the Trump administration.
“Japan is a natural partner for Carney’s ambition to ‘be at the table, not on the menu,’” said Yee Kuang Heng, professor of international security at the University of Tokyo.
