Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Kato Katsushin
From Tokyo, Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Kato Katsushin said at a press conference on Feb. 10 that he welcomed the implementation of military exercises by two U.S. Navy nuclear-powered aircraft carriers in the South China Sea. He said, “This shows (the U.S.) unwavering involvement in regional peace and stability in an increasingly challenging environment for regional security and safety.”
The U.S. Navy’s Pacific Fleet said via Twitter on Sept. 9 that the USS Roosevelt and USS Nimitz carrier strike groups are conducting dual-carrier exercises in the South China Sea. This is the first Time the U.S. Navy has held such an exercise since July 2020 and since President Biden took office. A statement issued by the U.S. Pacific Fleet said, “This exercise is part of a long history of U.S. Navy operations in the Indo-Pacific region. Dual carrier operations such as this are not new and are designed to maintain U.S. operational readiness and combat-ready forces, reassure allies and partners, and preserve peace in the region.”
In response, Kato Katsushin stressed at a press conference Wednesday that “it is important for the international community, led by the United States, to work together in order to guard the sea of peace under the concept of a free and open Indian Pacific.” In addition, on the recent repeated sailing of Chinese Maritime Police Bureau vessels into the disputed waters around the Diaoyu Islands (known as the Senkaku Islands in Japan), Kato Katsushin again condemned the Chinese side, saying, “It is absolutely unacceptable. It is a violation of international law.”
Japanese Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi told the U.S. side in a phone call with Joseph M. Young, chargé d’affaires of the U.S. Embassy in Japan, on Tuesday that Japan “has great concern and must not accept” the implementation of the Chinese Communist Party‘s Maritime Police Law.
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