France’s nuclear-powered aircraft carrier and accompanying warships were in the Philippines yesterday after holding combat drills with Philippine forces in the disputed South China Sea in a show of firepower that would likely antagonize China.
The Charles de Gaulle on Friday docked at Subic Bay, a former US naval base northwest of Manila, for a break after more than two months of deployment in the Indo-Pacific region.
The French carrier engaged with security allies for contingency readiness and to promote regional security, including with Philippine forces, navy ships and fighter jets.
Photo: AFP
They held anti-submarine warfare drills and aerial combat training on Friday in the South China Sea, Philippine and French officials said.
Last year, the French navy deployed a frigate for the first time to participate in a joint sail with the US and the Philippines in and near the disputed waters.
It was part of the largest annual combat exercises in years by US and Philippine allied forces. The drills, known as Balikatan (Tagalog for “shoulder-to-shoulder”), involved more than 16,000 military personnel.
Photo: EPA-EFE
China strongly criticized the exercises then, saying the Philippines was “ganging up” with countries from outside Asia in an obvious reference to the US and its security partners, adding that the drills could instigate confrontation and undermine regional stability.
France’s recent and ongoing military deployments to the Philippines underscore its “commitment to regional security and the shared goal of strengthening maritime cooperation in the Indo-Pacific,” Armed Forces of the Philippines public affairs head Colonel Xerxes Trinidad said.
The Charles de Gaulle, the only nuclear-powered aircraft carrier in the world other than those of the US Navy, led a strike group that included three destroyer warships and an oil replenishment vessel in its first-ever visit to the Philippines, French officials said.
France has been shoring up its military engagements with the Philippines and other Southeast Asian nations at odds with China in the disputed waters, a key global trade and security route, although it says that those emergency-preparedness actions were not aimed at any particular country.
China has bristled at any presence of foreign forces, especially the US military and its allies, which carry out war drills or patrols in the South China Sea, which Beijing claims almost in its entirety. Its claims overlap with those of Taiwan, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei.
Meanwhile, Japanese Minister of Defense Gen Nakatani yesterday visited military installations on the main island of Luzon with Philippine Secretary of National Defense Gilberto Teodoro.
The Philippine News Agency reported that Nakatani and Teodoro discussed bolstering their nations’ strategic defense cooperation, particularly on maritime and air defense, and regional security initiatives.
The pair are to have an in-depth meeting today, and Nakatani is also to meet with Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr, the agency said.
Additional reporting by staff writer
GLOBAL ISSUE: If China annexes Taiwan, ‘it will not stop its expansion there, as it only becomes stronger and has more force to expand further,’ the president said China’s military and diplomatic expansion is not a sole issue for Taiwan, but one that risks world peace, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, adding that Taiwan would stand with the alliance of democratic countries to preserve peace through deterrence. Lai made the remark in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times). “China is strategically pushing forward to change the international order,” Lai said, adding that China established the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank, launched the Belt and Road Initiative, and pushed for yuan internationalization, because it wants to replace the democratic rules-based international
ECONOMIC BOOST: Should the more than 23 million people eligible for the NT$10,000 handouts spend them the same way as in 2023, GDP could rise 0.5 percent, an official said Universal cash handouts of NT$10,000 (US$330) are to be disbursed late next month at the earliest — including to permanent residents and foreign residents married to Taiwanese — pending legislative approval, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. The Executive Yuan yesterday approved the Special Act for Strengthening Economic, Social and National Security Resilience in Response to International Circumstances (因應國際情勢強化經濟社會及民生國安韌性特別條例). The NT$550 billion special budget includes NT$236 billion for the cash handouts, plus an additional NT$20 billion set aside as reserve funds, expected to be used to support industries. Handouts might begin one month after the bill is promulgated and would be completed within
The National Development Council (NDC) yesterday unveiled details of new regulations that ease restrictions on foreigners working or living in Taiwan, as part of a bid to attract skilled workers from abroad. The regulations, which could go into effect in the first quarter of next year, stem from amendments to the Act for the Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals (外國專業人才延攬及僱用法) passed by lawmakers on Aug. 29. Students categorized as “overseas compatriots” would be allowed to stay and work in Taiwan in the two years after their graduation without obtaining additional permits, doing away with the evaluation process that is currently required,
RELEASED: Ko emerged from a courthouse before about 700 supporters, describing his year in custody as a period of ‘suffering’ and vowed to ‘not surrender’ Former Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) was released on NT$70 million (US$2.29 million) bail yesterday, bringing an end to his year-long incommunicado detention as he awaits trial on corruption charges. Under the conditions set by the Taipei District Court on Friday, Ko must remain at a registered address, wear a GPS-enabled ankle monitor and is prohibited from leaving the country. He is also barred from contacting codefendants or witnesses. After Ko’s wife, Peggy Chen (陳佩琪), posted bail, Ko was transported from the Taipei Detention Center to the Taipei District Court at 12:20pm, where he was fitted with the tracking
RSS