Japan ground troops begin joint military drill with U.S., France

Japan's ground troops began Tuesday a large-scale joint exercise with the United States and France for the first time on Japanese soil to increase cooperation in the face of China's growing assertiveness."ARC21" will be held through next Monday as Tokyo seeks to deepen defense cooperation beyond its U.S. ally with "like-minded countries," Japanese Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi said ahead of the drill.France "is the only European country with a permanent military presence in the Indo-Pacific region," Kishi told a press conference in Tokyo. "It is also a like-minded country that shares with Ja…READ FULL ARTICLE