Japan plans to dispatch its largest warship on a three-month tour through the South China Sea beginning in May, three sources said, in its biggest show of naval force in the region since World War Two. China claims almost all the disputed waters and its growing military presence has fueled concern in Japan and the West, with the United States holding regular air and naval patrols to ensure freedom of navigation. Japan does not have any claim to the waters, but has a separate maritime dispute with China in the East China Sea.

Japan plans to send largest warship to South China Sea. (2017, March 15). Manila Bulletin, p. 5.