TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The U.S. Navy announced that it will recall the USS Ronald Reagan Carrier Group from its current station in Yokosuka, Japan in spring 2024.

The USS Ronald Reagan will be replaced by its sister ship the USS George Washington in the second half of 2024, reports the Anadolu Agency. The USS George Washington was previously stationed in Japan from 2008 to 2015 as the first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier to be stationed in a Japanese port.

In 2019, a federal law was enacted by the U.S. Congress that forbids the forward deployment of navy vessels for more than 10 years. The USS Ronald Reagan was stationed in Japan on Oct. 1, 2015, when it replaced the USS George Washington.

With the exception of a brief mission to the Middle East in 2021, the USS Ronald Reagan has been the flagship of the primary U.S. aircraft carrier group patrolling the Indo-Pacific region since 2015.

Anadolu Agency reports that the Japanese Foreign Ministry has already informed the local municipal government of Yokosuka of the aircraft carrier rotation. Yokosuka Mayor Kajimi Katsuaki (上地克明) issued a statement that said “continued presence of the US Navy is important for Japan's peace and regional stability.”