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| Lead ship in the Izumo class shortly after launch |
The possibility that Japan may name its second Izumo-class helicopter destroyer Kaga may start another diplomatic row with China as it was formerly the name of an aircraft carrier that sent planes to bomb Shanghai in the Second Sino-Japanese War, reports China's Global Times.
Global Times said countless civilians lost their lives to the bombers taking off from Kaga and other carriers. For this reason, the original Kaga was known more commonly as the "vessel of demons" from the perspective of the Chinese people, the report said, implying it would appear intentionally hurtful to revive the name.
The original Kaga, named after an old Japanese province, was one of 20 aircraft carriers Japan lost to American aircraft, warships or submarines over the course of World War II. Some of these vessels had previously been deployed to the eastern China coast in the summer of 1937 to launch aerial bombardments against cities including Shanghai and Nanjing. Before 1937, the carrier had also provided support to Japanese ground troops in the Shanghai Incident of 1932.