French aircraft carrier to visit the Philippines
by AFP Staff Writers
Manila (AFP) Jan 23, 2025

France's aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle is to visit the Philippines next month, the French envoy to Manila said Thursday, signaling a deepening security cooperation between the two countries.

The vessel will lead a carrier strike group on a port call that "underscores France's commitment to strengthening its involvement alongside the Philippines", ambassador Marie Fontanel told a maritime security forum.

France has been seeking to reassert its importance in the Asia-Pacific region, where China and the United States are vying for influence.

The Philippines is meanwhile trying to strengthen relations with allied countries as it engages in increasingly tense confrontations with Beijing over reefs and waters in the strategic South China Sea.

Prior to the Manila visit, the carrier group is scheduled to hold a maritime drill with the United States in the Philippine Sea, Fontanel added.

Manila and Paris have said they are expected to enter talks on a defence pact soon that would allow them to deploy troops to each other's territories, similar to Philippine arrangements with the US and Japan.

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