May : British PM says no plans to quit

Prime Minister Theresa May is greeted by dignitaries as she arrives in Japan
Image Theresa May is in Japan for a three-day visit
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01 September, 2017

"There's obviously a number of trade deals that the European Union has with other countries, and we are looking at the possibility of those being able to be brought over into, certainly initially, trade deals with the United Kingdom", May told reporters on her way to Japan for meetings with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

When asked to elaborate, May said there were "a number of issues that China can look at", such as further worldwide sanctions against Kim Jong Un's regime. Last week, Japan expanded its own sanctions against the North, after a similar U.S. move.

"What I want to do is work with our global partners and I will have obviously have the opportunity in Japan to talk to [Japanese] Prime Minister [Shinzo] Abe about these tests that North Korea have been carrying out, and how we can work together, and with others internationally, to put pressure on North Korea to stop".

"The long term is the hard one for Theresa May, I don't think she has got a long term".

Mrs May said: "As our closest security partner in Asia, we will also discuss how we can work much more closely together on cybersecurity, counter-terrorism and defence - more important than ever in this uncertain world".

Earlier Thursday, Beijing slammed a report that suggested the US, Japan and Britain were planning fresh punitive measures against the North, saying calls for sanctions were "destructive" and that those measures alone "cannot fundamentally resolve the issue".

"We would encourage China to do everything it can to bring pressure on North Korea to stop this", she added.

Security and defense had always been a planned element of the trip, with May due to address Japan's National Security Council and visit one of its warships on Thursday. The Council, which was created at the end of 2013, consists of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and key ministers.

She said there was a "real job to be done" in the United Kingdom, including getting the "Brexit deal right" while building a "deep and special partnership" with the European Union. Kim Jong Un's regime first threatened to attack the USA island territory after President Donald Trump threatened to respond to North Korea's threats with "fire and fury".

This week Pyongyang for the first time flew a ballistic missile created to carry a nuclear payload over Japan.

But she rejected the talk of her standing down or being replaced in Number 10.

Both countries also vowed to cooperate in the development of defence equipment and technology, the fight against terror and the field of cybersecurity.


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