France continues to send warships to the East Sea 3
After sending the nuclear attack submarine Emeraude to the East Sea in early February, French officials said on March 7 that they would deploy the helicopter carrier Tonnerre and the corvette Surcouf to the area.
The deployment of the Tonnerre and Surcouf ships is part of the French navy’s annual Jeanne d’Arc mission.
The two warships will participate in large-scale exercises with the navies of partner countries in the Indo-Pacific region, including Australia, India, Japan and the United States, members of the Ministry group.
The helicopter carrier Tonnerre is docked in Ajaccio, France, March 2020.
Several countries recently announced plans to deploy warships to the Indo-Pacific region.
Britain plans to bring a new aircraft carrier strike group to the Indo-Pacific later this year and has planned to hold joint exercises with Japan.
China claims unreasonable sovereignty over most of the East Sea, where an important sea route passes through.
Collin Koh, an expert at the S. Rajaratna School of International Studies in Singapore, commented that the intensity of warship presence in the East Sea in 2021 is `unprecedented` to `demonstrate Indo-Pacific commitment.`
French military presence in the Indo-Pacific
French military presence in the Indo-Pacific.
France has a long history of presence in the Indo-Pacific region and still has overseas territories in this region.
Chinese media reported last week that the country’s military will conduct exercises in the East Sea throughout March in response to the deployment of US reconnaissance aircraft and reconnaissance ships, as well as the dispatch of a French warship group to the area.
The US Indo-Pacific Command last week asked Congress to approve spending about $27 billion to strengthen precision strike missile systems, air defense and other capabilities to counter military ambitions.
