French nuclear-powered carrier makes first visit to Philippines

The Manila 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 says, 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."   AFP VIDEO  Subscribe to The Manila Times Channel - https://tmt.ph/YTSubscribe   Visit our website at https://www.manilatimes.net   Follow us:  Facebook - https://tmt.ph/facebook  Instagram - https://tmt.ph/instagram  Twitter - https://tmt.ph/twitter  DailyMotion - https://tmt.ph/dailymotion   Subscribe to our Digital Edition - https://tmt.ph/digital   Check out our Podcasts:  Spotify - https://tmt.ph/spotify  Apple Podcasts - https://tmt.ph/applepodcasts  Amazon Music - https://tmt.ph/amazonmusic  Deezer: https://tmt.ph/deezer  Tune In: https://tmt.ph/tunein  #TheManilaTimes #worldnews  #philippines  #southchinasea  #france

Transcript

00:00It's an honor for all French sailors to be welcome here today in Manila and Subic Bay.

00:11This port visit is the first time for the French carrier strike group and I'm grateful

00:17to the Philippines authority for allowing our visits.

00:21All these interactions goal is not only to strengthen our interoperability but also to

00:27demonstrate our commitment to maintain regional stability and promote a free, open, safe and

00:34peaceful Indo-Pacific region.

00:36There's nothing that is declared against anybody.

00:41As the ambassador said, we are mostly here because there is a free and open area to sail

00:49in and we are here basically to use this right of common space to make sure that this space

00:57stay common.

00:59Knowing the rise of tensions, it's even more important to uphold international law and

01:06the freedom of navigation, be it at sea or in the air.

01:10And what we are here also to show is that we continue whatever the situation all over

01:18the world, we continue to conduct those operations and those deployments even very far away from

01:29main France because we have this Indo-Pacific strategy.

01:34So basically, we are standing with the countries and the Philippines being one that share with

01:42us the values of international law and particularly the international law of the sea.

02:42For more UN videos visit www.un.org

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