French assault carrier at Japan port to take part in joint drills

A French amphibious assault carrier has navigated into Japan’s naval base of Sasebo to join the wargames set for next month in a move that will likely upset China amid rising tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

The Mistral sailed into Japanese military installation on Saturday and is due to lead military drills near Guam in May, along with troops from Japan, the US and Britain.

The participants will practice amphibious landing exercises around Tinian, an island located nearly 2,500 kilometers south of the Japanese capital of Tokyo.

The French Defense Ministry said in a statement that the Mistral forms part of an amphibious task force mission, dubbed Jeanne d’Arc, describing the warship as “a potent support to French diplomacy.”

The upcoming military drills, which will involve 700 naval forces, were planned prior to North Korea’s test-firing of a ballistic missile on Saturday, defying rising pressure from Washington and its military partners in the region and Europe. Reports say the test was unsuccessful.

The French warship, which left the country in February, can carry up to 35 helicopters and four landing barges, as well as several hundred sailors. It will reportedly remain in Sasebo until May 5.

The development comes as the US has deployed the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier group to nearby waters in a show of force. The carrier joined guided missile submarine USS Michigan, which docked in South Korea on Tuesday.

The USS Carl Vinson entered the Sea of Japan on Saturday, where it completed naval drills with two Japanese warships dispatched from Sasebo, according to a spokesman for Japan’s Maritime Self Defense Force (MSDF).

The joint military drills will take place amid purported concerns by the US and Japan over China’s rising influence in regional waters and the South China Sea by acquiring power-projecting aircraft carriers.

Read more:

• US strike group approaching Korean Peninsula

France, which controls several Pacific islands, including New Caledonia and French Polynesia, shares such concerns.

Despite seeking greater economic ties with China, both France and Britain, which has two navy helicopters aboard the Mistral, are strengthening their security cooperation with Japan, a major US ally that has Asia’s second-strongest navy after China.

Meanwhile, China launched its first domestically-manufactured aircraft carrier, the Shandong, earlier this month. It joined the Liaoning, bought from Ukraine in 1998, which led a group of Chinese warships through waters south of Japan in December.

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