US urges Japanese Navy to expand patrols through South China Sea

RFI reported that on April 1, the Commander of the US 7th Fleet once again said that the US and Japanese navies will have conditions to cooperate more closely with each other throughout Asia, after Tokyo passed the law on collective defense.

Currently, Beijing is increasingly encroaching on the East Sea, and the US is persistent in its intention to urge its ally Japan to expand its patrol area through the East Sea.

Japanese Navy destroyer in the South China Sea. (Photo: brownpoliticalreview.org)

Speaking in Yokohama, aboard the USS Blue Ridge, the flagship of the 7th Fleet, Admiral Robert Thomas expressed confidence: “The Collective Defense Law makes it easier for the 7th Fleet and the Japanese Navy to conduct joint exercises and joint operations throughout the entire Indo-Pacific region.”

In a press conference with Admiral Eiichi Funada, Commander of the Japanese Navy, Admiral Robert Thomas stated that Japan “has the capability and capacity to operate in international waters and airspace anywhere in the world.”

According to Admiral Thomas, joint patrol missions between Japan and the US could expand from Japan to the East Sea, where there are sovereignty disputes between China and neighbors such as Vietnam and the Philippines./.

According to VNA