The plan is part of the French Navy’s ongoing Clemenceau 25 mission that will take the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle and its escort vessels to the Pacific.
Charles De Gaulle left its home port of Toulon in southern France on November 28 to lead the CSG for the five-month mission. This is the first time the French Navy is set to deploy an aircraft carrier to the Pacific Ocean in 57 years, since 1968 when the conventionally powered aircraft carrier Clemenceau was temporarily deployed to the South Pacific to take part in nuclear tests.
Speaking at the Japan National Press Club, Pinget, the French military’s Pacific commander who himself commanded the Charles de Gaulle from 2019 to 2021, didn’t provide details, such as which ships from the CSG will call at Okinawa as well as which Okinawan island its ships will call at. Naval News understands that the carrier itself is unlikely to dock in Okinawa.
The CSG’s call at Okinawa “will open up new possibilities”, said Pinget, the commander of the French Armed Forces based in Tahiti, French Polynesia.
However, it is yet unknown whether people in pacificist Okinawa, Japan’s politically and militarily sensitive islands, will warmly welcome any French warships.
France is the only European Union member to maintain a permanent military presence in both the Indian and Pacific oceans.
Pinget, who is in charge of the vast Pacific Ocean stretching from the Straits of Malacca in the west to the Panama Strait in the east, said that 1.6 million French citizens live in seven overseas territories and that 91 percent of France’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) lies in the region.
The French Armed Forces deploy 12 warships, 6 offshore patrol vessels and 30 aircraft, and have 7,000 permanent military personnel in the region, Pinget said.
Pinget cited four main objectives for the Clemenceau 25 mission. The first is to contribute to international and European operations in the Red Sea and the Arabian Gulf, which are vital for international trade, and to strengthen maritime security in these areas. The second is to develop joint training with partners and allies in the Indo-Pacific region. The third is to promote a free, open, stable and law-abiding Indo-Pacific region. The fourth is to contribute to protecting the French people and its interests as a sovereign country with territories in the Indo-Pacific region.
Clemenceau 25 includes a joint exercise with the U.S., Japan, Canadian and Australian navies in the Pacific Ocean, dubbed “Pacific Stellar”.
When asked if he was concerned about China’s rapid maritime advances, particularly in the South Pacific where France has many territories, Pinget said as follows:
“I think that today there are a certain number of states that would be tempted to challenge the framework of international law in which we exist in order to promote an alternative international order. For Western states that operate under the rule of law, maintaining existing laws is a concern.
The second concern is the desire to resolve conflicts by force, a concern that France shares with Japan and its allies and partners in the Indo-Pacific.
In the field of defense, relations between France and China are very limited; there is no planned cooperation activity.
However, France’s status requires maintaining a dialogue with China, which is what I am led to do in regional forums.”
The background to Pinget’s explanation is that France’s Macron administration has consistently rejected any move to divide the Indo-Pacific region into two blocs due to the conflict between the United States and China, and has been pursuing its own “third way” to ease tensions.
In recent years, major European countries have deepened their security engagement in the Indo-Pacific region and strengthened defense cooperation with Japan. In September 2021, the Royal Navy’s aircraft carrier Queen Elizabeth made its first port call at the U.S. Navy Yokosuka Base, and in August 2024, the Italian Navy’s aircraft carrier Cavour made its first port call at the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force’s Yokosuka Base. The German Navy’s frigate Bayern also made a port call at the Tokyo International Cruise Terminal in November 2021.
