How the UK can work with Japan to make the world a safer and more stable place
The language of diplomacy can sometimes be very general. Diplomats and politicians invoke the idea of “partnerships” and “strong bilateral relations” without making clear to their citizens why they matter or what the benefits might be.
Talk about trading opportunities gives a sense of something practical emerging from these sorts of relationship, but trade and investment is just one part of why country-to-country links and exchanges matter.
These questions will become more important for Britain as it grapples with the problems of Brexit next year, and begins the process of rebuilding its international relations as a single state rather than as part of the EU.
The focus will be on how to make the rhetoric of “Global Britain”, which many observers find a vague concept, meaningful.
Japan will be an important example of the new approach. Japan is a country with which Britain can rightly say that it has developed a genuine partnership.
Trade and investment drove this. Japanese manufacturing and service firms have come in large numbers to the UK, and there are over a thousand Japanese companies now throughout the country, employing hundreds of thousands directly or through their supply chains.
British exports also expanded as the Japanese market opened and now total over £10bn worth of trade in goods and services.
Politicians in both Britain and Japan are continuing to devote time and resources to strengthening the links between the two countries. As we saw in 2017, with Theresa May’s visit to Japan, and more recently with Jeremy Hunt, the first Japanese-speaking foreign secretary, visiting in September this year.
Life sciences and healthcare are at the heart of this part of the agenda, and there are affinities and differences between Britain and Japan.
We both have nationwide, comprehensive healthcare systems. We both face demographic pressures – although Japan’s challenge is compounded by the fact that the population is shrinking: by the middle of this century, it is expected to have fallen from its current level of 127m to below 100m, nearly 40 per cent of whom will be over 65.
In Britain, where births outnumber deaths and immigration exceeds emigration, the population is growing – possibly to 77m by 2050.
Britain will be in demographic terms where Japan is now, with those in retirement accounting for half the country’s healthcare costs.
Britain can learn from Japan’s experience. Both countries have a direct and immediate interest in working together to address the challenges – in terms of social policy, as well as medical research – that will accompany the inevitable shift towards an ageing society.
These will include regulatory reform for pharmaceutical and medical devices, where the Abe government has made major progress over the past few years, the internationalisation of research activity in pursuit of new generic technologies, and the freeing up of the Japanese market to allow more foreign direct investment into the world’s third largest economy.
Innovation is proceeding in both countries. For example, in Britain the NHS is introducing immune-boosting cell therapies for some children and young people with blood cancer, and technology is revolutionising the lives of type one diabetes patients.
And Japan is leading the way in the development, not only of robotics for the care of the elderly but also wearable mobility aid devices.
Technological partnership in these areas between Britain and Japan will enhance the lives of millions. And the commercial potential of these relationships is important, as it will create jobs and prosperity. But the significance of this sense of joint purpose goes beyond economic transactions.
The language of politicians and bureaucrats can sometimes seem detached from ordinary people’s lives.
But there isn’t anything more important in most people’s lives than their health and the well-being of their loved ones. The challenges of the future can be difficult for countries to address and resolve on their own.
Where nations which share the same values and objectives can work together to help find answers to these questions, they can help to make the world a safer and more stable place.
That’s true for Britain and Japan in many areas, but particularly scientific and medical research. We could welcome the practical steps being taken by both governments to turn this aspiration into a reality.