Japan has spent $215 million to buy an uninhabited island with the intention of creating an “unsinkable aircraft carrier” in a message to China .

Mageshima is a 5.1 mile square of land in the East China Sea that used to host a Japanese military base in World War 2.

Military expert Collin Koh said: “When you target and sink an aircraft carrier it is irreversible.”

He told CNN: “At the very least it doesn’t sink.

“You can take the time and effort to bring it back to operation again.”