Japan’s recent high-profile interference in the South China Sea will disrupt China’s relations with other nations in the region, and will undermine efforts to maintain regional peace and stability, a military expert said.

“Japan has become more aggressive regarding the South China Sea issue ever since Donald Trump became U.S. president...Japan wants to hype up tension in the disputed waters so that [the issue] disrupts China’s peaceful construction,” Yin Zhuo, a Beijing-based military commentator, told CCTV during an interview.

Yin’s comments come after Japan has intensified efforts to interfere in the South China Sea. According to the Acquisition, Technology and Logistics Agency of the Japanese Ministry of Defense, two Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force TC-90 training aircraft were officially transferred to the Philippines navy on March 23, in a move that is interpreted by many Chinese military experts as an intentional provocation of China.

The deal has also worried many experts and scholars, as it marks the first time Japan has lent military aircraft to a foreign country, following the lifting of its self-imposed ban on weapons exports.

“The Philippines’ new president Rodrigo Duterte’s [stance] on the South China Sea has cooled down tension between the two nations, while other countries in the region have reached consensus with China on the disputed waters - a result that Japan and the U.S. are not willing to see,” said Yin.

In addition to exporting weapons, Japan also plans to dispatch its Izumo-class helicopter destroyer on a three-month tour around the South China Sea in what could become its biggest show of naval power in foreign waters in seven decades, according to Reuters.

“Both Japan and the U.S. are unwilling to accept a peaceful South China Sea. Japan wants to showcase its influence in the region, as well as stand up for the U.S.,” Yin said, adding that such attempts may jeopardize China’s relations with other nations in the region.