Japan plans to step up its maritime presence in the disputed South China Sea by joining forces with the United States in conducting joint patrols as well as carrying out military war games with other navies in the region.

Japan's new defense minister Tomomi Inada, on her first official visit to the US on Friday, said Japan would increase its maritime activities in the strategic waterway as a response to China's increasing assertiveness in the contested region.

Like Us on Facebook

"These Chinese actions constitute its deliberate attempt to unilaterally change the status quo, achieve a fait accompli, and undermine the prevailing norms," Inada said at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington D.C.

Military capacity

She said Japan's participation in joint patrols with the US in the international waterway would also include helping coastal nations such as the Philippines and Vietnam to build their military capacity through regular naval and military exercises.

China continues to rapidly construct military outposts on its artificial islands in the disputed sea despite a recent arbitration ruling rejecting Beijing's claims to territories in the South China Sea.

China's rejection of the July 12 ruling has reportedly escalated tensions among neighboring claimants countries, prompting them to seek military help from the US, Japan, and Australia.

Competing claims

The Philippines, Vietnam, Taiwan, Malaysia, Brunei, and China have competing claims to the disputed waterway which is believed to have a large deposit of oil and gas. About $5 trillion worth of ship-borne trade passes through the South China Sea each year.

Inada warned the international community against condoning China's behavior and its attempts to circumvent international law saying the consequences could be disastrous and could affect their interests later on.

"In this context, I strongly support the US Navy's freedom of navigation operations, which go a long way to upholding the rules-based international maritime order," she said.

Although Japan is not a party to the South China Sea dispute, Tokyo has been helping claimant countries such as the Philippines and Vietnam by providing them patrol boats.

Joint training cruises

"Japan, for its part, will increase its engagement in the South China Sea through, for example, Maritime Self-Defence Force joint training cruises with the US Navy and bilateral and multilateral exercises with regional navies," Japan's defense minister added.

Inada said Japan is scheduled to hand over five patrol boats to Vietnam this month to boost Hanoi's law enforcement capabilities in the region.

Tokyo has been militarily supporting small countries in the region, providing them with ships and patrol boats to be used to defend their territories against China.

Earlier, Japan handed over two large patrol ships and loaned five used surveillance aircraft to the Philippines to be used in upholding its sovereignty in the South China Sea.

TagsUS-Japan joint patrols, South China Sea, US-Japan military exercises, Japanese Defense Minister Tomoni Inada, artificial islands, china