China’s Global Times reports that the French Navy’s Carrier Strike Group, including the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle and its escort, are expected to embark soon on a months-long journey that will take them to the Eastern Mediterranean, the Red Sea, the Indian Ocean, and possibly to Japan and the Philippines to make historic calls that would mark firsts, according to Naval News, the Royal Navy’s newspaper. Global Times adds that these Asian port visits are “an attempt to pander to NATO’s expansion into the Asia-Pacific, which is detrimental to regional peace and stability.”
Global Times adds that the U.K. has similar plans: “In 2025, U.K. aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales will be deployed to the Indo-Pacific region ... which will conduct a series of operations and exercises with partners and allies—including a port visit in Japan, the official website of the U.K. government said in April. The Italian Navy flagship, the aircraft carrier Cavour, made its first-ever port call in Japan in August and conducted a joint exercise with the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSD), Kyodo News reported.”
