Japanese carrier drills with British warship

JAPAN’S biggest warship, the Kaga helicopter carrier, joined naval drills with Britain’s HMS Argyll in the Indian Ocean on Wednesday as the frigate headed toward the contested South China Sea and East Asia.

Britain, Japan and their close ally the United States have found common cause in countering growing Chinese influence in the region that they worry could put key commercial sea lanes linking Asia with Europe, the United States and elsewhere under Beijing’s sway.

“We have traditional ties with the British navy and we are both close US allies and these drills are an opportunity for us to strengthen cooperation,” Kenji Sakaguchi, the Maritime Self Defence Force (MSDF) commander of the Kaga group’s four helicopters said on the hangar deck.

The more frequent presence of the Royal Navy in the region is a chance for the two navies to train more closely in the future, he added.

The Argyll, Kaga and its destroyer escort the Inazuma practised formations on calm seas in the Indian Ocean close to commercial sea lanes plied by container vessels and oil tankers. Three helicopters from the Japanese carrier hovered above, monitoring the drill.

The Argyll’s arrival in the region comes after Britain’s amphibious assault ship HMS Albion, last month challenged Beijing’s territorial claims in the South China Sea on its way to Vietnam from Japan by sailing close to Chinese bases in the Paracel islands in a freedom of navigation operation (Fonop).

China dispatched a warship and helicopters to counter the British presence and warned London that similar actions in the future could endanger talks for a possible trade deal that Britain is seeking as it prepares to leave the European Union.