Britain to send aircraft carrier strike group to waters near Japan

Is Japan preparing wars with neighbors ?

It's a pretty big ship, hoodoo matey.

I love to see Aircraft Carriers sail by! I spent 12 years on Aircraft Carriers. The smell of JP5 (Jet fuel) and Jet Noise are what soothes the soul! Now that I am FREE I enjoy the finer things in life.

Nansei Islands....do us all a favor and refer to us as Okinawa, or that they are coming to the Prefecture of Okinawa!

Good for the UK and Japan. Both believe in freedom of navigation, and democracy. If the Commies want to start something in the region, theyll be hopelessly outclassed with their rusting Soviet era carriers just waiting to be sunk. Bring it on.

I think President Xi is saying... " Ehhhhhhhh?!"

Let hope Uncle Albert (only fools and horses) is steering.

or isn't

AkieToday 07:05 am JST

Is Japan preparing wars with neighbors ?

Xi told his military to prepare for war. That leaves neighbors with little choice but to do the same. However this is purely an exercise.

It could trigger an outcry from Beijing.

So what? This is none of Beijing's business. If China protests it can be safely ignored, it will do nothing but bluster.

Viva the freedom to sail in international waters for all nations big or small.

Is Japan preparing wars with neighbors ?

It seems Japan is preparing better defense with democratic countries/neighbors because China is forcibly trying to invade more islands and water territories.

Peter14 said "Xi told his military to prepare for war. That leaves neighbors with little choice but to do the same. However this is purely an exercise."

What is wrong to perform an exercise on one's own territory ? China doesn't go to Great Britain to do the exercise, does she ?

Is Japan preparing wars with neighbors ?

Interesting, so China can do ANYTHING it so pleases in the name of expansion and Japan dare NOT do ANYTHING in the name of *defense**.*

So, at least we know whose side this poster's on.

kwatt said "It seems Japan is preparing better defense with democratic countries/neighbors because China is forcibly trying to invade more islands and water territories."

What do you feel if your neighbor gang up with some strangers to make noises at your front door while your are sleeping ? Is your neighbor nice ? Are these strangers civilized ?

ALmost said "Interesting, so China can do ANYTHING it so pleases in the name of expansion and Japan dare NOT do ANYTHING in the name of *defense**.*"

What expansion ? China doesn't go thousand miles to Europe to make noise. Perhaps you are taking about Australia ?

@Akie

As long as (for all people) seeing Hong Kong and Taiwan issue, Southeast China Sea islands, Tibet, Uighur, etc, Communist China seems forcibly invading more countries, islands, water territories whatever.

What is wrong to perform an exercise on one's own territory ? China doesn't go to Great Britain to do the exercise, does she ?

Nothing wrong with doing exercises in ones own waters, with allies and friends or in International waters.

So there is nothing wrong with the UK doing exercises with Japan and US in Japanese waters or surrounding international waters. Everyone can be happy.

What do you feel if your neighbor gang up with some strangers to make noises at your front door while your are sleeping ? Is your neighbor nice ? Are these strangers civilized ?

You mean like when China did exercises with Russia near Japanese waters? I dont know, you tell me.

@Akie,

The expansion referred to by others is more interestingly referred to here:

Although I am unsure you will be able to see the site as it may be blocked in China which they do to limit the information you have so i will put a small part here.

Over the last two decades China has been steadily building its influence in the South Pacific. Many perceive this expansion to be growing at a rate much faster than what could be considered a natural reflection of China’s growing economic and geopolitical clout. This has left many analysts in the West to ask, what is China’s ambition in the South Pacific, and what risks does this create?

https://www.brookings.edu/articles/the-risks-of-chinas-ambitions-in-the-south-pacific/

Good, China understands only one word "POWER".

Akie obviously you are a chinese person who strongly supports the CCP reading your posts here over a long period of time shows your strong support for anything china. But you have to realize that the Chinese leadership are the ones calling for war, they have been spouting that out for a few years telling the military to prepare for war, telling their people to repare for war, and making threats all over the pacific as far away as Australia.

They are the ones who are also building bases on remote islands throughout the pacific and have constant battles with others they share borders with but you want to sit there and pretend Japan is making war . Please go right ahead because you are the only one who sees things that way.

James, you are wrong. China has been openly building its influence in the South Pacific not over the last two decades, but last two thousand years. There is nothing wrong to build one's own country. China discover it, claim it, as simple as that.

Hong Kong, Taiwan issue, Southeast China Sea islands, Tibet, Uighur, etc, as you call them, all belong to Communist China, do you want to challenge it ?

NO they dont all belong to China!! Yes I challenge it!!

Bjorn Tomention, keep lying, that is your freedom protect by your civilization.

James, you are wrong. China has been openly building its influence in the South Pacific not over the last two decades, but last two thousand years. There is nothing wrong to build one's own country. China discover it, claim it, as simple as that.

Now you think China owns the South Pacific because "maybe" someone sailed through waters 2000 years ago? So funny you are, but your fantasy is not reality. Your ambitions for China will see China claim ownership of the whole planet and the moon because someone looked up 2000 years ago and claimed it for China. China is a joke! China's claims are a joke! Anyone who try's to support fake claims is a joke.

Peter14 said "Now you think China owns the South Pacific because "maybe" someone sailed through waters 2000 years ago? So funny you are, but your fantasy is not reality. "

If someone from Europe 200 years ago can conquer the land thousand miles away from its hone, then what is wrong for China to peacefully explore the nature she discovered 2000 years ago ?

Your are not special people, are you ?

What is wrong to perform an exercise on one's own territory ? China doesn't go to Great Britain to do the exercise, does she ?

Why worry about what someone is doing in their home or yard ?

Akie writes,

If someone from Europe 200 years ago can conquer the land thousand miles away from its hone, then what is wrong for China to peacefully explore the nature she discovered 2000 years ago ?

Your are not special people, are you ?

I see your confusion, you equate exploration and just seeing something as claiming it. In that case the world probably belongs to the oldest race that migrated out of Africa and through Asia 100,000 years ago, by your own theory of making claims the Australian Aborigines who migrated through Asia must now be able to claim ownership of all Asia and everything between Australia and Africa. I expect your support on such claims using your own basis for claims.

@Akie

Most Hong Kong people really want just democratic world there but Communist China forcibly cut/stopped it before time comes. Most Taiwanese people want their country independence from China. That's why Taiwan has its own defense military there. Tibetan and Uighur people want really independent country because they are NOT Chinese. They can't write and read Chinese. Communist China is forcibly assimilating these people into Chinese culture, so they now can't speak and read their own language any more. Who wants this way?

What expansion ?

What expansion? Are you blind or uninformed about China's expansion?

China doesn't go thousand miles to Europe to make noise.

Maybe because China does not have friends inviting it to do exercises in Europe.

Perhaps you are taking about Australia ?

Yes Australia does have friends in Europe and does get invited to participate in exercises there.

UK gets invited by friends to do exercises all over the world as does the US, Australia, Japan, France and others. China does not get many invites but most expansionist nations never do.

Akie talks exactly the language CCP brainwashed all mainland people for decades. Its not his mistake actually it is a tragic of dictatorship regime. I have heard this kind of arguments from many mainlenders. Actually they have no choice if they say something else than CCP they go to the jail.

China managed to rub Britain off the wrong way by reneging on their commitment towards HK. And even if this has nothing to do with HK, all democratic countries should come together to pushback against the commies, otherwise the commies will only become emboldened further.

And guys, please stop engaging the wumao 50center with the 4 letter screen name, his silly arguments are not worth any attention and it is obvious that he is only earning his paycheck.

AkieToday  07:05 am JST

Is Japan preparing wars with neighbors ?

No Akie. China is the only one preparing for war.

"Chinese President Xi Jinping tells troops to focus on 'preparing for war'"

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/10/14/asia/xi-jinping-taiwan-us-esper-intl-hnk/index.html

@Akie...

China is overstepping it's mark in the pacific region and has NO rights to the Senkaku Islands or anything else.

Nice to see Britain & Australia standing up to you alongside The U.S and India and of course meekly that it is Japan.

China is a menace!!

Calm down everybody, the South China Sea is now off-limits

China has successfully tested its ground-based carrier killer missile against a moving ship:

Adm. Philip Davidson, who is nearing the end of his tour as the head of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, has been warning about the changing military balance in Asia throughout his tenure. But his warnings have often fallen on deaf ears in a Washington mired in partisanship and dysfunction. The Trump administration talked a big game about meeting the challenge of China’s military encroachment, but Davidson’s calls for substantially more investment to restore the regional balance that has deterred Beijing for decades have gone largely unanswered.

China’s military has moved well past a strategy of simply defending its territory and is now modernizing with the objective of being able to operate and even fight far from its shores, Davidson told me in an interview conducted last month for the 2020 Halifax International Security Forum. Under President Xi Jinping, Davidson said, China has built advanced weapons systems, platforms and rocket forces that have altered the strategic environment in ways the United States has not sufficiently responded to.

“We are seeing great advances in their modernization efforts,” he said. “China will test more missiles, conventional and nuclear associated missiles this year than every other nation added together on the planet. So that gives you an idea of the scale of how these things are changing.”

Davidson confirmed, for the first time from the U.S. government side, that China’s People’s Liberation Army has successfully tested an anti-ship ballistic missile against a moving ship. This was done as part of the PLA’s massive joint military exercises, which have been ongoing since the summer. These are often called “aircraft carrier killer” missiles, because they could threaten the United States’ most significant naval assets from long distances.

“It’s an indication that they continue to advance their capability. We’ve known for years they’ve been in pursuit of a capability that could attack moving targets,” Davidson said. I asked him whether they are designed to target U.S. aircraft carriers. “Trust me, they are targeting everything,” he replied.

The Chinese Navy doesn't yet possess the blue water capability to take on the U.S. Navy. But the combination of mini-bases constructed on real and artificial islands, combined with the anti-ship missiles, should suffice to deny the U.S. Navy operating space in its expanded home waters without facing unacceptable risks.

Which means that a move on Taiwan is rapidly becoming conceivably practical for the first time since the end of WWII.

What expansion ? China doesn't go thousand miles to Europe to make noise. Perhaps you are taking about Australia ?

So building artificial islands in the middle of international waters then claim the surrounding areas are their territory is not expansion. Akie, We all know you are an wǔmáo. Do not embrass yourself here.

What is wrong to perform an exercise on one's own territory ? China doesn't go to Great Britain to do the exercise, does she ?

The PLAN conducted an exercise with the Russian Navy in the Baltic last year. They also conduct exercises with the Russians off northern Japan. The PLAN has conducted training in the Med and recently one of their two icebreakers showed up unannounced in a port in Greenland, something that spooked everyone in Greenland, Denmark and Washington.

Purr-chance to dream?

China doesn't go thousand miles to Europe to make noise

What about the exercise with the Russian Navy in the Baltic last year, or more recently this year a Chinese icebreaker showed up unannounced in a harbor in Greenland. No prior diplomatic clearance or anything, just showed up and dropped anchor inside Danish waters in Greenland.

But the combination of mini-bases constructed on real and artificial islands, combined with the anti-ship missiles, should suffice to deny the U.S. Navy operating space in its expanded home waters without facing unacceptable risks.

It only looks that way from the outside. The Chinese aren't ten feet tall and invincible. The US hasn't stood still. LRASM hit the fleet this year with JSM right behind it and a maritime strike version of Tomahawk coming very soon. The US just announced a brand new sixth gen fighter exists and has been in testing, even "broke a few records" according to the Air Force General who announced it exists. It's called NGAD for Next Generation Air Dominance and claimed to be close to a production decision. That was a complete surprise to everyone when it was announced last month. There was also a new long range air to air missiles revealed. A new strategic bomber, the B-21 Raider, prototype is under construction in Palmdale. There is an unmanned B-2 sized and shaped something called an RQ-180 out there already for long range strategic recce. The Navy will have ballistic missiles equipped with a hypersonic glide vehicle mounted on Virgina Class SSNs in another four to five years. These can be fired out of the Virginia Payload Module. Boeing and the Aussies are developing unmanned "Loyal Wingman" aircraft to accompany the F-35. One has to wonder what other interesting things the US and its allies might have that are keeping people up at night in Beijing.

Pre-Covid, Britain had 1.9 million food bank users. How many must it have now?

Bread, not bombs.

Yes, something substantial and impressive has to be done to keep Taiwan and HK people safe and free, the earlier the better.

Dodgy times. Diplomacy must be used rather than force.

What expansion ? China doesn't go thousand miles to Europe to make noise. Perhaps you are taking about Australia ?

China has expanded its influence all over the globe. In the rush for mineral resources, power and hegemony.

It's myriad of voices permeate politics, chatter and decision making. Unfortunately, many of the voices are aggressive, and/or those of spoilt sons and daughters who have been sent to fancy universities and "free" countries. They post online and denigrate critics of China, dissenters, Taiwanese, Uighur, Tibetan, Hing Kong voices. The language they use is often threatening, disingenuous and in bad faith.

They are known as wumao or the 50 cent army. They praise China's draconian treatment of its peoples which includes support for mass incarcerations, land grabs, disappearances, information suppression, loss of freedom of speech. The last one being doubly ironic, given they enjoy the privilege and freedom to post/say whatever they like. Something they would not be able to do in China.

Be wary of them. And remember, they are not representative of all Chinese. They just currently have the loudest voices.

Most Hong Kong people really want just democratic world there but Communist China forcibly cut/stopped it before time comes.

Actually, communism is democratic. But China is authoritarian and has long since twisted and betrayed the tenets of the ideology.

Xi has to go. And the people have to rise up. It's difficult as the idea of forced unity (China is made up of many different provinces and cultures) is essential to the party's grip on the people. Any attempts or hints at attempts to self-determination/autonomy within the nation are stamped out brutally.

Super states (China, Russia, USA) are brutal by nature. It's the only way to keep a stranglehold on the populations and advance their agenda.

For now. In the vast aeons of history, such empires are just a blip. They rise and fall and there are always good and bad times to come.

But in the meantime, I fear that the joint excercises may atagonise, rather than be a gentle reminder.

Very glad to see so many standing up against the Chinese attempt to practice 19th century expansion in the 21st century of shared world .... it wont work, and will be hard on China if they keep pushing. The "accidentatal" event of the virus is no mistake. And the aggressive actions in the South China Sea are part of this expnasoin policy. Ancient China and the naval history of Chinese large junks sailing in deep ocean areas is part of ancient histtory and has as much relevance today as the actions of Ancient Rome on modern Europe.

good posts from many here well done. It is good to see the Royal Navy standing shoulder to shoulder with Japan and the US in defending a free Pacific. Well done.

good posts from many here well done. It is good to see the Royal Navy standing shoulder to shoulder with Japan and the US in defending a free Pacific.

I wouldn't go as far as to say this region is "free". Whilst I despise the Xi exapansionism I've mentioned above, I'm no big fan of the former colonial power and the current occupiers of Japan trying to take the high moral ground.

Keep them all at bay. In a polite and diplomatic way, natch. But don't entirely trust them, either.

Just to clarify, my comments do not include the majority of decent British, Chinese and American peoples in the region. It's aimed at their awful governments.

Let's look at the evidence:

World's First Covid jabs❗️

Spitfire for BoJo Biggles❗️

Britannia Rules the Waves❗️

Brexit climbdown on the way...

Hip, hip, hooray!

Just make double sure it is near Japan seas, and not near China.

UK should eschew from showing off its questionable naval prowess, more so when it is badly entangled in its own endless and unsolvable internal problems..

Akie trying to justify what China's doing via colonialism. Hilarious. Too bad that ship has sailed hundreds of years ago.

@Venze

China should back the heck up from bullying it's Asian neighbours.

The U.K's questionable prowess is questionable just like the CCP's true motives for building artificial ports on other nations sovereign territories!

Internal problems? Our problems seem minor compared to China's use of concentration camps and take over HK!

What China is doing is wrong. But no worse than what Japan did throughout its history.

Basically, no nation can criticise others when it comes to bad behaviour and actions.

that's silly though---times change, nations change, people change, usually for the better in step with technological and humanitarian developments...otherwise we'd still be spearing each other like our neanderthal ancestors did millenia ago

standing shoulder to shoulder 

Too many Brits are still seething over those words.

Ego Sum Lux MundiToday 11:30 am JST

Calm down everybody, the South China Sea is now off-limits

The South China sea is open to all nations as it is International waters. China can do absolutely nothing to stop anyone sailing there. Should it try to take military action against anyone sailing there it will be branded as a criminal act of war in International waters and face the wrath of the entire maritime world who use those waters heavily. China is full of bluster and weapons it knows it can not use.

China has successfully tested its ground-based carrier killer missile against a moving ship:

China is not the only nation with ship killing missiles. It has two rickety Aircraft carriers that would make wonderful targets for the missiles of many nations should it attempt to begin hostilities in the South China sea.

All countries, the UK included, are legally entitled to sail and train in the South China sea's. No nation may claim ownership of International waters nor legally ban any nation from sailing in them.

Some nations have made complaining an art form. China may well be the worlds premier nation for that skill.

The HMS Queen Elizabeth has yet to receive any aircraft.

Meanwhile, China, Russia, Iran and their cronies continue to be active in aggressive posturing.

If WWIII breaks out, it will be on their heads.

Meanwhile, China, Russia, Iran and their cronies continue to be active in aggressive posturing

And the USA is such an awesome, innocent peace-loving nation, the world should rejoice.

China can only blame itself for such moves by other countries.

They are responding to a rising China, which is not as peaceful as they first said. RCEP and other such deals mean nothing if China decides to take an aggressive approach towards it's neighbors.

I wouldn't go as far as to say this region is "free". Whilst I despise the Xi exapansionism I've mentioned above, I'm no big fan of the former colonial power and the current occupiers of Japan trying to take the high moral ground.

Keep them all at bay. In a polite and diplomatic way, natch. But don't entirely trust them, either.

Distrust cuts both ways. When I served in the military there remained a very strong distrust of the Japanese, even as we exercised with their fleet. You might want to go back and revisit the arguments that were made in the mid 1980s against selling Aegis to Japan, and why the US eventually did. Memories of WWII linger. My own family member suffered a lifelong disability fighting the IJA. We don't forget that. A lot of people I served with felt strongly the US had to defend Japan so the Japanese would not feel the need to re-arm. Nobody then really wanted the Japanese to develop the skills necessary to successfully design, test and produce high tech weapons. Better they made US or other western designs and not for commercial considerations. It was a reluctance to see Japan gain those hard to develop skills. The guns on JMSDF ships are mostly Italian, not American btw, and their phased array radars other than the big SPY-1s are based on a Dutch design co-developed with Mitsubishi. Nobody I served with savored the idea of Japan being able to develop weapons and combat jets on their own, fearing a repeat of the 1930s. That is the truth. Today that doesn't seem to be a problem. Times change. Xi's aggression is largely responsible for this change.

Please stay out of Asian problems.

Nansei Islands....do us all a favor and refer to us as Okinawa,

The Nansei islands include the Amami island group which is under jurisdiction of Kagoshima.

The article does not specify that they will conduct any land based operations in the area, just that they will be operating partly in the surrounding waters.

The HMS Queen Elizabeth has yet to receive any aircraft.

More room for Japanese and US Marine F-35Bs to operate from. The Brits will have about half an air wing by then but US Marine squadrons are scheduled (or is that sheduled?) to fill out the rest of the ship's air wing early on.

Can the HMS Elizabeth even reach Japan?

Yes. This sort of thing is unfortunately part of operating big complex warships. We used to call the old aircraft carrier USS Constellation the "Conflagration" over her history of large fires, starting with one while being built. I can remember her suffering two large boiler room explosions during my own time in uniform. I can remember deploying on only one ship that didn't have some sort of major engineering casualty underway, in this case the old USS Sacramento AOE-1. Once in a while a ship just turns out right and Sacramento was such a ship. Other ships seemed to break down all the time. One of these is now a museum ship but talking to one of her docents the "Taney Tremble" was a feature right up to her decommissioning. The docent laughed out loud when I asked about it.

More room for Japanese and US Marine F-35Bs to operate from. 

Does Japan have a carrier operable wing yet? The Izumo and Kaga are scheduled to be carrier operable by 2023, so I’d assume the ASDF is at least in the training evolution phase. It’d also be interesting to see how the MSDF and ASDF will share command of ASDF air operations aboard a MSDF ship. If the cooperation between the MSDF and GSDF amphibious Brigade is any indicator, there shouldn’t be much of a problem, as operations would be controlled by the Joint Chief of Staff.

@Kwatt

Most Hong Kong people really want just democratic world there but Communist China forcibly cut/stopped it before time comes.

Hong Kong is very safe and peace now. No need to involve HK onto your discussion. We are living very happily here.

Healthy for Japan and the UK. All believe in right to navigate, as well as democracy. If there is something in the area that the Commies want to launch. The meeting is an offering of goodwill; civil diplomacy or disorderly diplomacy are the choices open for peace. The outcome is a new reef system composed of the Chinese Navy in the South China Sea, make no mistake loss is eminent and would be swift, there is no desire for the western world to participate in a protracted battle.

It would be good if people would stop referring to China as Communist. Communism is a political system where resources are shared according need. I have worked with students from the PRC whose parents are among the richest people in the world but somehow manage to be members of the 'Communist' Party. I am no fan of the British Conservative Party but they do have elections from time to time which would allow the people to get rid of Boris Johnson if he continues to be an idiot. No such option is available for the people of China to remove their Fascist rulers.

Hong Kong is very safe and peace now. No need to involve HK onto your discussion. We are living very happily here.

My family knows first hand about the barbarities the CCP can inflict on its citizens and now you appear helpless to defend yourselves. You have given up. Ben Franklin, one of the wise men who founded the US said: ""Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety." You will find in time that aside from not having any personal freedom whatsoever you are not as safe as you imagine. The state can now do anything it wants to you and your family and you have no legal recourse. They can force you out of your profession and exile you to poverty in some forgotten rural backwater and loose fingers in a factory with no compensation, or do as they did with my wife and force her to have abortions twice without any anesthesia either, because that is how the CCP treats its people. You will have no safety or peace. We know this already and you will learn to regret your timidity.

So many military experts here. Incredible really. And so much anti China rhetoric. Makes me sad to read fellow countrymen and other nationalities so hateful towards another nation.

My family is Chinese. We do not hate the Chinese. We hate the CCP. They are not the big cuddly panda you foolishly think they are. Our family suffered greatly under them. You are profoundly naive and that naivety is a great danger to those of us who cherish personal freedom and human rights so I have to condemn it with a full voice..

so much anti China rhetoric. Makes me sad to read fellow countrymen and other nationalities so hateful towards another nation.

I speak anti-CCP rhetoric myself. Not anti-Chinese rhetoric. I have known many Chinese people over the years, both nationals and ethnic. I've worked with them, been friends with them, and at times been in relationships with them. I find the culture extremely interesting, and the beauty of the country is amazing.

But the CCP is authoritarian, and dangerous to humanity. We cannot control their authoritarianism within China - that's up to the Chinese people - but we must restrict it to their borders and not let them push this on the rest of the world.

Perfect for containment. I don’t believe Xi is suicidal. It’ll just make things more difficult for the freedom fighters at home. However, do expect more trouble at home as I’d suspect the CCP won’t take it lying down and espionage and / or Internet disruption would be a good possibility..with the help of some neighbors.