AUKUS weighs Japan's participation in defense tech development

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. has begun talks with the U.K. and Australia on inviting Japan to collaborate on defense technology under the AUKUS security partnership, American officials told Nikkei Asia, aiming to make an announcement during the Japanese leader's visit to the White House next month.

Washington is leading discussions with London and Canberra in hopes of extending an invitation to Tokyo at a summit between President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on April 10, the officials said. Japan would be the first country invited to work in the trilateral AUKUS framework since it was launched in September 2021.