China said on Thursday that it hoped the entry into service of Japan’s second big helicopter carrier, the Kaga, did…
BEIJING —
China said on Thursday that it hoped the entry into service of Japan’s second big helicopter carrier, the Kaga, did not mean a return to the country’s past militaristic history.
The ship, along with its sister the Izumo, gives Japan’s military greater ability to deploy beyond its shores as it pushes back against China’s growing influence in Asia.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said that in recent years Japan had exaggerated the “China threat” as an excuse to expand its military.
“I also want to say that the Kaga was sunk by the U. S. military in World War Two. Japan should learn the lessons of history,” Hua told a daily news briefing.
