Latest news with #MarieFontanel
Euronews
24-02-2025
- Politics
- Euronews
French and Filipino forces conduct joint naval exercises amid South China Sea tensions
France and the Philippines have vowed to deepen their alliance after carrying out joint combat exercises in the disputed South China Sea last week. In a display of military strength that is likely to anger China, the two countries conducted anti-submarine warfare drills and aerial combat training. Following the exercises, the French nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, the Charles de Gaulle, docked on Friday at Subic Bay, a former US naval base northwest of Manila. On Sunday, Marie Fontanel, the French ambassador to the Philippines, spoke from the carrier's flight deck. "We aim to deepen our cooperation with regional partners with whom we share common values such as upholding international law and ensuring freedom of navigation in shared maritime spaces," she said. France and the Philippines signed an agreement to enhance military cooperation and joint exercises in late 2023. They are now also negotiating a deal that would allow their troops to conduct training in each other's territory. French officials have submitted a draft proposal to Manila to initiate discussions. The Philippines has already signed similar agreements with the US and Australia. Although France has been increasing its defence partnerships with Southeast Asian countries that are embroiled in maritime disputes with China, Paris has insisted that its activities are focused on emergency preparedness and do not target any specific nation. China, however, has objected to the presence of foreign military forces in the South China Sea, particularly those of the US and its allies. Beijing claims sovereignty over nearly the entire waterway, though it has not officially defined what it considers to be the boundaries. These claims overlap with those of the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan, leading to long-standing territorial disputes. Tensions flared again two weeks ago when Australia accused a Chinese J-16 fighter jet of launching flares dangerously close to one of its P-8 Poseidon surveillance aircraft over the South China Sea.
Euronews
24-02-2025
- Politics
- Euronews
France and the Philippines seek to strengthen ties after joint drills
France and the Philippines have vowed to deepen their alliance after carrying out joint combat exercises in the disputed South China Sea last week. In a display of military strength that is likely to anger China, the two countries conducted anti-submarine warfare drills and aerial combat training. Following the exercises, the French nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, the Charles de Gaulle, docked on Friday at Subic Bay, a former US naval base northwest of Manila. On Sunday, Marie Fontanel, the French ambassador to the Philippines, spoke from the carrier's flight deck. "We aim to deepen our cooperation with regional partners with whom we share common values such as upholding international law and ensuring freedom of navigation in shared maritime spaces," she said. France and the Philippines signed an agreement to enhance military cooperation and joint exercises in late 2023. They are now also negotiating a deal that would allow their troops to conduct training in each other's territory. French officials have submitted a draft proposal to Manila to initiate discussions. The Philippines has already signed similar agreements with the US and Australia. Although France has been increasing its defence partnerships with Southeast Asian countries that are embroiled in maritime disputes with China, Paris has insisted that its activities are focused on emergency preparedness and do not target any specific nation. China, however, has objected to the presence of foreign military forces in the South China Sea, particularly those of the US and its allies. Beijing claims sovereignty over nearly the entire waterway, though it has not officially defined what it considers to be the boundaries. These claims overlap with those of the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan, leading to long-standing territorial disputes. Tensions flared again two weeks ago when Australia accused a Chinese J-16 fighter jet of launching flares dangerously close to one of its P-8 Poseidon surveillance aircraft over the South China Sea.
Khaleej Times
23-02-2025
- Politics
- Khaleej Times
French nuclear-powered carrier makes first visit to Philippines
Rising tensions in the South China Sea have made freedom of navigation exercises "even more important", France's ambassador to the Philippines said on Sunday, as the nuclear-powered Charles De Gaulle made its first port visit to the country. The aircraft carrier strike group, which includes a trio of destroyers, joined the Philippine Navy on Friday for drills in the disputed waterway that Manila said were aimed at enhancing "interoperability, communication, and defense capabilities". The visit to Subic Bay north of Manila comes as the Philippines looks to strengthen relations with like-minded countries in the face of increasingly tense confrontations with China over reefs and waters in the sea. "Knowing the rise of tensions, it's even more important to uphold international law and the freedom of navigation, be it at sea or in the air," Ambassador Marie Fontanel said on the deck of the carrier. She added that France stood with countries, like the Philippines, that shared those values. France, which has nearly two million citizens in its Pacific territories, has been seeking to reassert its importance in the region, where China and the United States are battling for influence. The French Navy's months-long operation Clemenceau 25, which included exercises with the United States and Japan in the Philippine Sea last week, was aimed at projecting power "in strategic zones where regional tensions are growing and the law of the sea is challenged by force", it said in a statement. France is one of a handful of European countries that regularly conduct freedom of navigation patrols in the South China Sea. China claims most of the sea including waters close to the shores of the Philippines and several other neighbours, ignoring an international tribunal ruling that its claims are without legal basis. The Philippines and France have also been discussing a visiting forces agreement that would allow them to deploy troops on each other's territory. Manila already has similar pacts with the United States and Australia. Japan is expected to ratify its own visiting forces deal soon, while Canada and New Zealand are also in negotiations to join that group. The Philippines said in November that its coast guard would acquire 40 fast patrol craft from France, with plans to deploy some of them in disputed areas of the South China Sea. Philippine Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Ronnie Gil Gavan at the time called the deal the "largest so far single purchase" in Manila's ongoing effort to modernise its coast guard, with deliveries set to start in four years. The 25.8 billion pesos (about $440 million) deal is to be funded by development aid from the French government.
