SHANGHAI \u2014 Two French warships docked in the commercial hub of Shanghai on Saturday, which diplomats said marked the first visit to China by French naval vessels since 2013.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The “Dixmude,” which serves as a helicopter carrier, and the frigate “Aconit” pulled into port at a naval base in northern Shanghai on Saturday morning, greeted by Chinese military officers waiting on the dock with flowers and a band.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The visit marks the tenth time French naval ships have come to Shanghai, the Chinese navy said in a statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“We want to know each other better,” Captain Pierre de Briancon, commanding officer of the Dixmude, told AFP. “It’s one of our strategic partners.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Dixmude came from Singapore, and will stay in Shanghai for a week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n
Both vessels are part of a larger mission, Jeanne d’Arc 2015, which is taking the group from the Indian Ocean and also the South China Sea and Sea of Japan over five months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“We come to the Pacific because a lot of economic interests are here,” de Briancon said. “It’s also because maritime traffic is mostly here in the Pacific. We want to protect it.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The visit also comes amid rising tensions in the South China Sea between China and some of its Asian neighbors, including the Philippines and Vietnam, over competing territorial claims.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
US officials said Friday that China has dramatically ramped up its land reclamation efforts in the South China Sea this year, building artificial islands at an unprecedented pace.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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