The French “Jeanne d’Arc” naval task force, integrated by British personnel and units, is heading for East Asia and the South Pacific. Paris and London say this five-month deployment is aimed at improving maritime cooperation between their navies. In reality, it can be read as a new initiative by the two European countries to support the United States in its freedom of navigation operations in the region against China’s military activism.
France and Britain are busy stepping up their naval presence in the Indo-Pacific area. The annual Jeanne d’Arc training and patrol mission sees the Royal Navy’s participation for the second year in a row. The task group consists of the Mistral-class helicopter assault ship Dixmude and the La Fayette-class frigate Surcouf.
Two Royal Navy’s Wildcat helicopters contribute to the task force’s flying force, which also comprises two French Gazzelles and two Spanish Cougars. French Navy personnel are supported by 40 Royal Navy and Royal Marine troops, 50 US Marines and a small Spanish crew.
Another French naval group is returning home from a deployment in the Indian Ocean. The Mistral-class amphibious assault ship Tonnerre and the Horizon-class air defense destroyer Chevalier recently concluded drills with the US Navy off the coast of Djibouti as part of the “Bois Belleau 100” mission. Further, the French frigate Vendémiaire visited Japan and trained with the local navy last month. It also conducted joint exercises with US and Canadian naval vessels.
A British warship is also already embarked on an Indo-Pacific tour. The Royal Navy has its HMS Sutherland, a Type 23 anti-submarine frigate, stationed in Australia, where it will participate in the “Ocean Explorer” war game with the local fleet. It will sail into the South China Sea on its way back home. As well, the frigate HMS Argyll will be sent to East Asia to take part in joint exercises with the Japanese navy later in the year.
Cooperation with China’s rivals
The Jeanne d’Arc convoy fleet will sail as far east as New Caledonia and French Polynesia, two French overseas territories in the South Pacific. It will make port visits to Jakarta, Bali, Darwin, Saigon and Singapore, and train with regional navies and US naval forces.
France and the United Kingdom contend that their engagement in the Indo-Pacific arena is guided by an interest in maintaining a rules-based international order
It is worth noting that the French-led task force will dock in countries at odds with China. Indeed Indonesia, Australia and Vietnam question Beijing’s claims to the South China Sea, though with varying degrees of intensity and for different reasons. Singapore is not a claimant to the disputed area, yet it is bolstering its security partnership with the US and India, which side with the Southeast Asian nations challenging Chinese territorial demands.
China is always critical of naval operations in the South China Sea by non-regional actors. France and the United Kingdom contend that their engagement in the Indo-Pacific arena is guided by an interest in maintaining a rules-based international order.
The two permanent members of the United Nations Security Council are also committed to safeguarding their systems of alliances and partnerships in the vast region. For instance, France is discussing with India the finalization of a logistic agreement that would allow French and Indian military forces to gain access to each other’s bases – Delhi signed a similar deal with Washington last year. For its part, Britain has berthing rights and a defense staff office in Singapore. Both London and Paris are deepening military cooperation with Japan and Australia too.
Keeping Beijing in check
Behind France’s and UK’s growing deployment in the Indian Ocean and Pacific waters, however, there is conceivably an effort to help the US keep China in check. In a nuanced manner, Paris and London are starting to denounce Beijing’s geopolitical expansion, which is now perceived on European soil as well.
In this respect, the prospective Quadrilateral (Quad) alliance among the United States, India, Japan and Australia to counter China’s military assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific space could be extended to France and Britain.
The “Quad plus two” scheme, with the addition of British and French naval assets, has a notable potential, given that the military units of these six countries could operate in an interoperable way from the Red Sea and East Africa all the way to the Pacific Rim. Despite its increasing military and geopolitical capabilities, this is a concrete challenge for China.
McCoy,
Not sure if people need to use animal language for you to understand, but let me try to use a human language to say it one more time: China never stops anyone from so-called "Freedom of Navigation". It never has and never will. But some propaganda machine from the US keeps using this NON-ISSUE to give itself an excuse to meddle with South China Sea. The World had seen the same issue, out of nothing, in the Iraq War’s WMD.
But China is not Iraq. Hope China will give a good lesson to the US when it dares to try China. I am certain the World will applaud to see the US imperialists’ bloody nose.
Be a man, if you can’t stand to see Asia rise and led by China, launch a war for domination. But please save the BS. It will make your kind look better.
As neither France nor especially Britton’s navy are viable, this is a "fake" news piece written by a Jamestown Foundation propagandist.
Nothing here, move along.
Quoting from the article:
"For instance, France is discussing with India the finalization of a logistic agreement that would allow French and Indian military forces to gain access to each other’s bases – Delhi signed a similar deal with Washington last year. For its part, Britain has berthing rights and a defense staff office in Singapore. Both London and Paris are deepening military cooperation with Japan and Australia too."
One important nation not mentioned is Sri Lanka. She is one of the most strategically placed nations in that region. Whoever has access to Sri Lanka’s ports and Harbors practically controls the Indian ocean. There is about equal distance from Sri Lanka to the Middle East as there is from Sri Lanka to South East Asia and only ocean from Sri Lanka to Australia.
A Navy stationed in Sri Lanka’s ports can deploy equally either east or west. Sri Lanka’s Trincomalee harbor is the 5th largest natural harbor in the world and if fully developed would emerge as one of the greatest ports in the world.
During world war 2 the British claimed they could contain the entire British navy in the Trincomalee harbor and have plenty of room to spare. In addition there is the Colombo, Galle and Hambantota ports. If China invests in these ports it would be an investment that meets both military and commercial use.
The World needs partners in trade and development, not alliances. Alliances lead to war, deaths and destruction. Partners in trade and development lead to peace and development. The western countries tend to favour alliances because they want wars and destruction. The rest of the World prefers partners in trade and development. Let peace prevail.
Stupid fellow why you barking like mad dog if you have knowledge on this issue just share your views only need not comment like china pig k
Cannot win over China alone, so Britain & France formed a team.
How about the other 6 countries. I remember there were 8 countries in total last century.
At least, change the location. You aren’t from Austin, wumao
This mr. Scimia should learn from someone who knows how to write about
French and UK "entente" of the losers
http://www.voltairenet.org/article199528.html
Fröit Mi thats what France thought in Vietnam !!
New Alliance? Emanuele should appreciate that the Chinese have not forgotten about the 1860 Anglo-French ransacking of the Chinese Summer Palance in Beijing. But thanks to their enfeeblement, there is no chance that that European powers can now arrogantly inflict pain on China. On the contrary, the British and French should consider carefully whether they want to embarrass themselves in the South China Sea flexing the very small muscles that they now possess.
Rules based international order? What a bloody jackass your are! Can’t help branding you as a CIA mouthpiece. What about the scam the US concocted and caused the Vietnam war which resulted in the killing of 3 million Vietnamese civilians and maiming of untold numbers(Laotians/Cambodians), through chemical poisons(agent orange), mines, etc.. What about Iraq, pulling another scam about their possession of WMDS, in spite of the UN inspection team headed by Hans Blix testifying repeatedly there were no such things? And the US invaded Iraq with their arrogant cry of "shock and awe", a war which subsequently led to the killing of more than a million Iraqis, caused untold sufferings! What about the invasion of Libya? Did you see the picture of Hillary Clinton doing her silly, deplorable giggling saying, "We came, we saw, he died!" when they assassinated Gaddafi! What about the US base in Diego Garcia, when the US with the collusion of the British puppet, forcibly removed the inhabitants on the island? What about the land stolen from the red Indians in the US? What about the land stolen from the natives in Canada?, and in Australia, in New Zealand? And what about the Marshall islanders who suffered from all kinds of illnesses resulting from their exposure to radiation caused by the US conducting hundreds of nuclear tests on Bikini(from which the islanders were then forcibly removed), and to this date have still not been compensated for their sufferings? Yes, "rules based international order" obviously are not applicable to the west. Other than them, anyone else should obey. Cut mouthing crap about such things. Don’t think the rest of the world is as stupid as not to know what what REAL "Rules-based" mean!
Just for show,,,
http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/community/article/2135579/pla-garrison-holds-joint-exercise-french-navy-frigate
These French and British war ships could at least serve two purposes: 1. Be a training target for the PLA. 2. In case of a hot sea war breaks out between the US and China navies, pick up the American allied bodies from the ocean.
Hindu fundementalist’ wet dream… Turning the Pacific region into SAARC version 2…
Fröit Mi – The crass ignorance, arrogance, and stupidity of the corrupt Ching rulers and impotent rank and file officials prior to the Opium Wars was legendary. However, I don’t think they knew much about Britain’s Royal Navy, let alone looked down on its capabilities. They were fighting among themselves, probably like what the Republicans and the Democrats are doing today in America.
The current crop of China’s leaders, though far from perfect, are a different breed — they do prepare for large scale wars, unlike their brainless counterparts of the Opium Wars era.
Do the British navy and the French navy look like they can fight a large scale war in Asia (or anywhere else)?
That’s what China thought of Britain and France prior to the Opium Wars. And we know what happened then.
Rules-based international order, eh? Like wanting to or having pull out of Paris climate accords, NAFTA, WTO, Iran nuclear deal, extraordinary rendition and torture, Guantanomo, quantitative easing one and two and TARP, (basically by far the biggest subsidy in the history of mankind to the financial sector which subsidizes all else), 26000+ bombs on 7 countries in 2016, thousands of illegal troops and 20 bases in Syria, etc. Hey maybe all these things should be done, but don’t call it rules-based.
It is another way of justifying their defense budgets to their people and also spending more. Anyway, nothing bad would happen if China just keep the status quo and continue with its "peaceful" rise. Moreover, the British and Frenchcan be better trusted than the Americans. Americans always have ulterior motives in whatever they do.
Is this payback for the Sino-Russian exercise in the Baltic last year?
Vassal politics aside, the British Royal Navy today is a big joke, and the French Navy is an even bigger joke.
No worries though, all the FONOPs are meant to be face-saving shows, and China knows it.