A French warship passed through the Taiwan Strait earlier this month, US officials said, a rare voyage by a vessel of a European nation that is likely to be welcomed by Washington, but increase tensions with Beijing.
The passage is a sign that US allies are increasingly asserting freedom of navigation in international waters near China, and it could open the door for other allies, such as Japan and Australia, to consider similar operations.
Two officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said a French military vessel carried out the transit on April 6.
Photo: Reuters
One of the officials identified the warship as the French frigate Vendemiaire and said it was shadowed by the Chinese military.
The officials said that as a result of the passage, China notified France it was no longer invited Tuesday’s naval parade to mark 70 years since the founding of China’s People’s Liberation Army Navy.
The parade featured Chinese aircraft carrier the Lioaning and Chinese-made Nanchang guided missile destroyers. Warships from India, Australia and Japan also participated.
France yesterday reaffirmed its commitment to “freedom of navigation under maritime law,” an aide to French Armed Forces Minister Florence Parly said.
“The national navy crosses the Taiwan Strait about once a year, without any incident nor reaction,” the aide said after China confirmed lodging an official protest over the voyage.
The French transit comes against the backdrop of increasingly regular passages by US Navy and Coast Guard vessels through the Taiwan Strait.
Asked by reporters to comment on the passage of the French warship, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said that the Taiwan Strait is in international waters and that all kinds of vessels pass through it regularly.
The armed forces have “complete and precise” information regarding all vessels passing through the waterway, regardless of whether they are military or civilian vessels, she said.
Ministry of National Defense spokesman Major General Chen Chung-chi (陳中吉) said by telephone that the Strait is part of busy international waters and it is “a necessity” for vessels from all nations to transit through it.
He said the ministry would continue to monitor the movement of foreign vessels in the region.
There was no immediate comment from the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs or Ministry of National Defense.
“This is an important development both because of the transit itself, but also because it reflects a more geopolitical approach by France towards China and the broader Asia-Pacific [region],” said Abraham Denmark, a former US deputy assistant secretary of defense for East Asia.
The transit is a sign that nations such as France are not only looking at China through the lens of trade, but from a military standpoint as well, Denmark said.
Last month, France and China signed deals worth billions of euros during a visit to Paris by Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平).
French President Emmanuel Macron wants to forge a united European front to confront Chinese advances in trade and technology.
“It is important to have other countries operating in Asia to demonstrate that this is just not a matter of competition between Washington and Beijing, that what China has been doing represents a broader challenge to a liberal international order,” said Denmark, who is with the Woodrow Wilson Center think tank in Washington.
Additional reporting by Staff writer and AFP
NO-LIMITS PARTNERSHIP: ‘The bottom line’ is that if the US were to have a conflict with China or Russia it would likely open up a second front with the other, a US senator said Beijing and Moscow could cooperate in a conflict over Taiwan, the top US intelligence chief told the US Senate this week. “We see China and Russia, for the first time, exercising together in relation to Taiwan and recognizing that this is a place where China definitely wants Russia to be working with them, and we see no reason why they wouldn’t,” US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told a US Senate Committee on Armed Services hearing on Thursday. US Senator Mike Rounds asked Haines about such a potential scenario. He also asked US Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lieutenant General Jeffrey Kruse
INSPIRING: Taiwan has been a model in the Asia-Pacific region with its democratic transition, free and fair elections and open society, the vice president-elect said Taiwan can play a leadership role in the Asia-Pacific region, vice president-elect Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) told a forum in Taipei yesterday, highlighting the nation’s resilience in the face of geopolitical challenges. “Not only can Taiwan help, but Taiwan can lead ... not only can Taiwan play a leadership role, but Taiwan’s leadership is important to the world,” Hsiao told the annual forum hosted by the Center for Asia-Pacific Resilience and Innovation think tank. Hsiao thanked Taiwan’s international friends for their long-term support, citing the example of US President Joe Biden last month signing into law a bill to provide aid to Taiwan,
China’s intrusive and territorial claims in the Indo-Pacific region are “illegal, coercive, aggressive and deceptive,” new US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo said on Friday, adding that he would continue working with allies and partners to keep the area free and open. Paparo made the remarks at a change-of-command ceremony at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii, where he took over the command from Admiral John Aquilino. “Our world faces a complex problem set in the troubling actions of the People’s Republic of China [PRC] and its rapid buildup of forces. We must be ready to answer the PRC’s increasingly intrusive and
STATE OF THE NATION: The legislature should invite the president to deliver an address every year, the TPP said, adding that Lai should also have to answer legislators’ questions The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday proposed inviting president-elect William Lai (賴清德) to make a historic first state of the nation address at the legislature following his inauguration on May 20. Lai is expected to face many domestic and international challenges, and should clarify his intended policies with the public’s representatives, KMT caucus secretary-general Hung Meng-kai (洪孟楷) said when making the proposal at a meeting of the legislature’s Procedure Committee. The committee voted to add the item to the agenda for Friday, along with another similar proposal put forward by the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP). The invitation is in line with Article 15-2