Japan mulls sending navy vessels to Chinese fleet review next year as tensions thaw
- Proposed visit in April would be the first to China by Maritime Self-Defence Force ships since December 2011
The Japanese government is considering sending Maritime Self-Defence Force vessels to the Chinese navy’s fleet review next April, as the two countries are looking to facilitate defence exchanges amid thawing diplomatic ties, a source familiar with bilateral ties said on Tuesday.
It would be the first visit to China by MSDF ships since December 2011. The fleet review will be held on April 23 off the city of Qingdao, eastern China, to mark the 70th anniversary of the foundation of the country’s navy.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe agreed with President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang in Beijing in October on the resumption of mutual naval visits.
Japan may invite a Chinese warship to the MSDF’s naval review to be held in the autumn next year, a Japanese government source said.
MSDF destroyers and Chinese warships made mutual visits from 2007 to 2011, but the exchanges came to a halt when the Japanese government put the Diaoyu Islands in the East China Sea, which are called Senkaku by Japan, under state control in 2012, straining bilateral ties.