Sunday’s Sankei reported on the finding that the SDF, U.S. military, and French military will conduct their first joint exercises next May. According to the paper, Japanese, U.S., and French vessels and ground forces will together conduct landing drills on an uninhabited island southeast of Japan’s main islands. The daily said the participation of the French military will send a message to Beijing over its intensifying activities in the South and East China Seas and is aimed at strengthening and expanding the encirclement of China.