Advertisement
China’s military
ChinaDiplomacy

Japan’s new aircraft carrier Kaga ruffles feathers in China and raises questions about commitment to pacifist constitution

  • The name of the ship has already been criticised in China because it shares its name with an imperial warship that bombed Shanghai in the 1930s
  • The helicopter carrier has been upgraded to carry F-35B fighters, making it Japan’s first aircraft carrier since the Second World War

Reading Time:3 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
99+
Japan upgraded the Kaga to become an aircraft carrier. Photo: Kyodo
Liu Zhen
Japan’s upgrading of a warship to become its first aircraft carrier since the Second World War has been criticised in China, raising questions about whether it violates the country’s post-war pacifist constitution.

The name of the newly upgraded Kaga has previously been criticised because a former ship with the same name was involved in the bombing of Shanghai and Tokyo’s motives for upgrading the ship have also been questioned.

After the ship was converted to an aircraft carrier, Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said Japan should “adhere to its defence-only policy” and be cautious in military development, “not the other way around”.

The Kaga entered service in 2017 as a helicopter carrier, but has now been upgraded to carry Lockheed Martin F-35B Lightning II stealth fighters.

The ship will undergo a second round of modifications to its hull in 2026-27 to help support its role as a carrier of fixed-wing warplanes.

Kaga’s sistership Izumo, commissioned in 2015, will also be modified in a process expected to finish in 2027. The two ships were commissioned as helicopter carriers that could be upgraded to carry fixed-wing fighters if needed.

Advertisement