For the second time in two years, warships of France, the United States, and Japan will assemble in the Indo-Pacific region for another major naval exercise that will confirm the military commitment of France as a deterrent to China.
The U.S. Navy, the French Navy and the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force in May 2021 will hold a joint naval and amphibious assault exercise off the coast of one of the uninhabited Japanese islands in the East China Sea.
The joint exercise aims to warn China any attempt to enforce its illegal claim to own Japanese islands such as the Senkakus in the East China Sea by using force will be met with counterforce, according to Japanese media.
"We want to demonstrate our presence to the region and send a message about Japan-France cooperation," said Admiral Pierre Vandier, chief of staff of the French Navy.
"This is a message aimed at China. This is a message about multilateral partnerships and the freedom of passage."
The exercise will form the basis for a coordinated defense against a Chinese naval and aerial attack in the East China Sea. It will also have a humanitarian component in its focus on providing relief efforts during natural disasters.
China claims to own the Senkakus and has raised tensions with Japan by sending air and naval patrols in close proximity to the islands.
Japan, however, is more concerned with the increasing boldness shown by warships of the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) and vessels of the China Coast Guard in venturing too close to Japan's territorial waters in the East China Sea.
China has said its intentions in the East China Sea are peaceful despite indications to the contrary.
The joint exercise set for May 2021 will be the second since May 2019 where France has joined a major multilateral naval exercise in the Indo-Pacific. The May 2019 naval exercise off the Bay of Bengal in India codenamed "La Perouse" saw the participation of a French carrier strike group led by the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier FS Charles de Gaulle.
La Perouse was the first time the navies of France, the U.S., Japan and Australia had conducted naval wargames in the Indo-Pacific. It focused on live-fire exercises, interoperability, communications, and formation steaming, among others. There were also sea control, anti-submarine and air defense exercises.
In 2016, the government of then French president François Hollande announced a plan to send the French Navy to Asian waters to enforce its defense of the rules based international order.
France under Hollande showed keen interest in leading naval patrols of the South China Sea by warships of the European Union to defend freedom of navigation.
It said this freedom remains threatened by China's opposition to the decision by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in favor of the Philippines that denied China's claim to own most of the South China Sea.
At the time, France urged EU nations to coordinate naval patrols to ensure a "regular and visible" presence in the disputed sea.
