The Taiwan Strait is international waters, and France would sail through it if it deems such action necessary, a French naval commander said in an interview with a Tahitian newspaper on Thursday.
During the interview with the French-language Tahiti Infos, Rear Admiral Jean-Mathieu Rey, joint commander of the French Armed Forces in the Asia-Pacific, spoke about tensions between France and China, as well as France’s cooperation with Southeast Asian countries.
Chinese aggression in the Indo-Pacific region is increasing, and Chinese military vessels and aircraft have frequently contravened international rules, he said.
Photo: Screen grab from the Twitter account of the French Armed Forces in the Asia-Pacific
The issue is of growing concern to France due to its territories in the region, which are home to 2 million French nationals spread over an area of 9 million square kilometers, he said.
This is also the reason the French military is present in the Indo-Pacific region, he added.
Asked how France should respond to China’s increasingly frequent territorial claims in the Asia-Pacific region, Rey said that when China or other countries make erroneous assertions, the first priority is to respond immediately.
For example, China recently claimed to have “sovereign rights” over the Taiwan Strait, which is “completely wrong,” as the Taiwan Strait is “an international strait,” Rey said, adding that the only waters under Chinese sovereignty are the 12 nautical miles (22km) from its shores that constitute its territorial waters.
“So the first thing is to react to these assertions ... [including through] the presence of vessels and aircraft to see what is happening there and to reaffirm freedom of navigation,” he said. “So when we need to go through places like the Taiwan Strait, we don’t hesitate to do so.”
Despite its interests in the region, Rey said the French Navy has regularly encountered harassment through illegal actions by the Chinese military.
France is in the process of strengthening its naval presence at its overseas territories, and plans to have two new naval vessels based at each of Reunion island, Tahiti and New Caledonia by 2025, he said.
The country was also in the process of replacing 12 of its Falcon 200 Guardian maritime surveillance aircraft with the newer Falcon 2000 Albatros, he said, adding that the newer aircraft would be instrumental in helping France deter illegal fishing and drug smuggling by Chinese vessels near its territories.
In addition to enhancing its military presence at home, France would also cooperate with partners including the US, Japan and countries in Southeast Asia, he added.
CALL FOR SUPPORT: President William Lai called on lawmakers across party lines to ensure the livelihood of Taiwanese and that national security is protected President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday called for bipartisan support for Taiwan’s investment in self-defense capabilities at the christening and launch of two coast guard vessels at CSBC Corp, Taiwan’s (台灣國際造船) shipyard in Kaohsiung. The Taipei (台北) is the fourth and final ship of the Chiayi-class offshore patrol vessels, and the Siraya (西拉雅) is the Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) first-ever ocean patrol vessel, the government said. The Taipei is the fourth and final ship of the Chiayi-class offshore patrol vessels with a displacement of about 4,000 tonnes, Lai said. This ship class was ordered as a result of former president Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) 2018
‘SECRETS’: While saying China would not attack during his presidency, Donald Trump declined to say how Washington would respond if Beijing were to take military action US President Donald Trump said that China would not take military action against Taiwan while he is president, as the Chinese leaders “know the consequences.” Trump made the statement during an interview on CBS’ 60 Minutes program that aired on Sunday, a few days after his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) in South Korea. “He [Xi] has openly said, and his people have openly said at meetings, ‘we would never do anything while President Trump is president,’ because they know the consequences,” Trump said in the interview. However, he repeatedly declined to say exactly how Washington would respond in
WARFARE: All sectors of society should recognize, unite, and collectively resist and condemn Beijing’s cross-border suppression, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng said The number of Taiwanese detained because of legal affairs by Chinese authorities has tripled this year, as Beijing intensified its intimidation and division of Taiwanese by combining lawfare and cognitive warfare, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) made the statement in response to questions by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Puma Shen (沈柏洋) about the government’s response to counter Chinese public opinion warfare, lawfare and psychological warfare. Shen said he is also being investigated by China for promoting “Taiwanese independence.” He was referring to a report published on Tuesday last week by China’s state-run Xinhua news agency,
‘ADDITIONAL CONDITION’: Taiwan will work with like-minded countries to protect its right to participate in next year’s meeting, the foreign ministry said The US will “continue to press China for security arrangements and protocols that safeguard all participants when attending APEC meetings in China,” a US Department of State spokesperson said yesterday, after Beijing suggested that members must adhere to its “one China principle” to participate. “The United States insists on the full and equal participation of all APEC member economies — including Taiwan — consistent with APEC’s guidelines, rules and established practice, as affirmed by China in its offer to host in 2026,” the unnamed spokesperson said in response to media queries about China putting a “one China” principle condition on Taiwan’s
RSS