YOKOSUKA, Japan —
Japan on Sunday held its first international fleet review in seven years with ships from 12 other nations in a show of unity, while North Korea fired a record number of missiles and China ramped up pressure on Taiwan.
The naval parade in Sagami Bay near Tokyo involved 38 ships, 18 from friendly countries including the United States, South Korea, Britain, Australia, Singapore, India and Thailand. 33 aircraft flew over it, including anti-submarine warfare patrol aircraft and helicopters.
“We must [be] ready for those who break rules and use violence to trample on the peace and security of other nations,” Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said in a speech at Japan’s helicopter carrier Izumo. “We will formulate a new national security strategy by the end of the year and drastically strengthen our defense capabilities.”
Kishida received dignitaries on the Izumo before flying to the US Navy aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan to meet Ambassador Rahm Emanuel and senior Navy commanders.
“What angers China most is that we have allies, they are expansive and comprehensive,” Emanuel said after accompanying Kishida on a Ronald Reagan tour.
Kishida’s Liberal Democratic Party has pledged to double Japan’s defense budget to around 2% of gross domestic product within five years.
South Korea’s decision to attend Japan’s event came as relations between the neighbors improved after a spat over compensation for war workers and Korean women forced to work in Japanese military brothels, prompting closer cooperation between the two US allies threatened to prevent, had argued.
Japan refused to join South Korea’s naval review in 2018 after Seoul asked it not to fly its rising sun flag, which South Korea regards as a symbol of Japanese wartime aggression. Tokyo declined to invite South Korea to a planned review in 2019.
Both countries have drawn closer as North Korea ramps up its missile launches, including a suspected long-range missile on Thursday that raised an alert in central and northern Japan for residents to seek shelter.
China, which has criticized Japan’s defense spending plans, declined an invitation to participate in the review. Russia was not invited because of its invasion of Ukraine.
(Reporting by Tim Kelly in Yokosuka; Editing by William Mallard)