The countries will sign a Reciprocal Access Agreement (RAA), according to two people familiar with the talks. It will follow a similar deal Japan signed with Australia in January and is another sign that Tokyo is forging deeper defense ties with allies and partners to prepare for the possibility of a war with China over Taiwan. The pact will facilitate joint exercises and logistics cooperation between the nations. It will also put in place a legal framework to simplify cumbersome bureaucratic red tape for troops to enter each other’s countries. “A mutual access agreement between Japan and the United Kingdom would make it easier for the two sides to exercise and operate together, which would allow the British armed forces to deploy and train more easily in the Indo-Pacific region,” said Zach Cooper, Asia . security expert at the American Enterprise Institute think-tank. “For decades, alliances in Asia have been linked together through the US in what has been described as a hub and spoke model. Now some US allies, including Japan, the United Kingdom and Australia, are acting as hubs.” The nations agreed to start talks on the RAA in May when Prime Minister Fumio Kishida met his then-UK counterpart Boris Johnson in London. The deal will be another example of deepening ties between Japan and the UK. In December, the two countries are expected to unveil details of a partnership to jointly develop their next fighter jet. “This is likely a reaction to both growing pressure from China and growing concern about US credibility,” Cooper added. While President Joe Biden has reinvigorated US alliances, Japan grew nervous under the previous administration when then-President Donald Trump repeatedly threatened to withdraw US troops from Japan. Christopher Johnston, a former Pentagon official, said the RAA would be a “significant step” and underscore Japan’s efforts to diversify security ties with US allies and partners. But he said the practical impact would be small as Japan has less military interaction with the UK than with Australia. Japan is also in the preliminary stages of considering a similar pact with the Philippines, which Johnstone said would be much more important. “An RAA between Japan and the Philippines would be of much greater strategic importance,” said Johnstone, who is now at the CSIS think-tank. “It will likely take time to negotiate, but the prospect of deeper defense cooperation between Tokyo and Manila would send a message to China that the fabric of US alliances in the region is tightening.” The US is also trying to expand access to bases in the Philippines, which would be a strategically important location in the event of war over Taiwan. US military officials welcome Japan’s push to sign mutual access agreements because they make it easier for Japanese and US allies to conduct joint training and exercises and ease efforts to overcome logistical obstacles. Washington wants to increase military cooperation and interoperability with allies in ways that could prove critical in the event of a war with China. Over the past two years, the US and Japan have stepped up efforts to prepare for a possible conflict with China over Taiwan, including conducting serious war games and more regular joint military exercises. Japan is also in advanced talks with the US to acquire Tomahawk cruise missiles that would allow it to strike targets in eastern China, according to people familiar with the discussions. In a statement after a meeting between US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi in Germany on Thursday, the State Department said the two diplomats discussed the “imperative need to maintain peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait”. Separately, senior White House officials held sensitive talks in London in April about the role the UK could play in a conflict over Taiwan. People familiar with the UK-Japan RAA talks warned that a final agreement on the fighter jet pact and cooperation depended on political developments in the UK, where Rishi Sunak recently became the third prime minister in two months. Japan’s prime minister’s office referred inquiries to the Defense Ministry, which could not be reached for comment. A UK Ministry of Defense spokesman said talks were “progressing positively” but added it would be “inappropriate” to comment on the signing of the RAA at this time. additional reporting by John Paul Rathbone Follow Kana Inagaki and Dimitris Sevastopoulos on Twitter