Defense & Security

British Royal Navy Aircraft Carrier Makes Port Call in Tokyo Amid Increasing Chinese Military Presence in Indo-Pacific Region

The Yomiuri Shimbun
The British aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales is seen in Tokyo Bay on Thursday. In the background is the Umihotaru parking area of the Tokyo Bay Aqua-Line.

By Miyuki Yoshioka / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer

16:20 JST, August 29, 2025

The British Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales entered Tokyo Bay on Thursday, highlighting the United Kingdom’s commitment to peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region amid China’s growing military presence.

This is the first time in four years, since 2021, that a British aircraft carrier has called at a port in Japan.

A carrier strike group, consisting of destroyers and other vessels, has been conducting joint drills with Japan, the United States, Australia and other allies in the Western Pacific since Aug. 4, and has been docked at Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, since Aug. 12.

At a welcoming ceremony held on Thursday at the Tokyo International Cruise Terminal in Koto Ward, Tokyo, Defense Minister Gen Nakatani stated, “This port call shows that the security of the Euro-Atlantic and Indo-Pacific regions is inseparable.”

U.K. Defense Secretary John Healey also expressed his desire to advance defense cooperation, stating that the more the world’s uncertainty increases, the more valuable U.K.-Japan cooperation becomes.

The Yomiuri Shimbun
F-35B fighter jets on the flight deck of the HMS Prince of Wales

The Yomiuri Shimbun
Cdre. James Blackmore

In June, the British naval patrol vessel HMS Spey conducted a transit of the Taiwan Strait. Cdre. James Blackmore of the carrier strike group explained in an interview with The Yomiuri Shimbun that this demonstrates the U.K.’s willingness to support the rules-based international order and a “Free and Open Indo-Pacific.”

Speculation is mounting over whether the Chinese military would commission its third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, in September as part of the commemorative military events marking the 80th anniversary of what it refers to as the victory of “the Chinese People’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression.”

Blackmore noted that he is closely monitoring the situation. The deployment of the British carrier strike group to Japan is intended to curb the Chinese military’s increasing activities in the Pacific.