French carrier in show of force aimed at China

TOKYO – In a display of military power aimed at China, France will dispatch one of its powerful Mistral amphibious carriers to lead drills on and around Tinian island in the western Pacific, with Japanese and US personnel and two troop-carrying helicopters sent by Britain, two sources told Reuters.

“Rather than just being a naval exercise, this amphibious exercise will send a clear message to China,” said one of the sources, who were not authorized to talk to the media and asked not to be identified.

The exercise will take place in the second and third week of May, the other source said.

As China’s military strength grows with the addition of power- aircraft carriers, Beijing is extending its influence beyond its coastal waters into the Pacific. The move worries Japan and the US, but is also a concern for France, which controls several Pacific island territories, including New Caledonia and French Polynesia.

China is building a second aircraft carrier, the Shandong, which when complete will join

The Liaoning, which was bought from Ukraine in 1998 and refitted in China. In December The

Liaoning led a group of Chinese warships that sailed through waters south of Japan.

Administered by the US, Tinian is part of the Northern Mariana Islands, which include Guam, lying about 2,500 kilometers south of Tokyo.

Japan, a close ally of the US, possesses Asia’s secondstrongest navy after China and is forging closer defense ties with both France and Britain.

London in October dispatched four of its Typhoon jet fighters to Japan to train with the Japanese Air Self Defense Force. The British aircraft flew over the disputed South China Sea on the way back to assert over-flight rights over a region most of which is claimed by Beijing.

A spokesman for Japan’s Self Defense Forces said nothing had been decided when asked if there would be a joint amphibious exercise with France, the US and Britain.