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.
INVESTIGATION: The case is the latest instance of a DPP figure being implicated in an espionage network accused of allegedly leaking information to Chinese intelligence Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) member Ho Jen-chieh (何仁傑) was detained and held incommunicado yesterday on suspicion of spying for China during his tenure as assistant to then-minister of foreign affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮). The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said Ho was implicated during its investigation into alleged spying activities by former Presidential Office consultant Wu Shang-yu (吳尚雨). Prosecutors said there is reason to believe Ho breached the National Security Act (國家安全法) by leaking classified Ministry of Foreign Affairs information to Chinese intelligence. Following interrogation, prosecutors petitioned the Taipei District Court to detain Ho, citing concerns over potential collusion or tampering of evidence. The
Seventy percent of middle and elementary schools now conduct English classes entirely in English, the Ministry of Education said, as it encourages schools nationwide to adopt this practice Minister of Education (MOE) Cheng Ying-yao (鄭英耀) is scheduled to present a report on the government’s bilingual education policy to the Legislative Yuan’s Education and Culture Committee today. The report would outline strategies aimed at expanding access to education, reducing regional disparities and improving talent cultivation. Implementation of bilingual education policies has varied across local governments, occasionally drawing public criticism. For example, some schools have required teachers of non-English subjects to pass English proficiency
‘FORM OF PROTEST’: The German Institute Taipei said it was ‘shocked’ to see Nazi symbolism used in connection with political aims as it condemned the incident Sung Chien-liang (宋建樑), who led efforts to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Kun-cheng (李坤城), was released on bail of NT$80,000 yesterday amid an outcry over a Nazi armband he wore to questioning the night before. Sung arrived at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office for questioning in a recall petition forgery case on Tuesday night wearing a red armband bearing a swastika, carrying a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf and giving a Nazi salute. Sung left the building at 1:15am without the armband and apparently covering the book with a coat. This is a serious international scandal and Chinese
NEGOTIATIONS: The US response to the countermeasures and plans Taiwan presented has been positive, including boosting procurement and investment, the president said Taiwan is included in the first group for trade negotiations with the US, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, as he seeks to shield Taiwanese exporters from a 32 percent tariff. In Washington, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said in an interview on Fox News on Thursday that he would speak to his Taiwanese and Israeli counterparts yesterday about tariffs after holding a long discussion with the Vietnamese earlier. US President Donald Trump on Wednesday postponed punishing levies on multiple trade partners, including Taiwan, for three months after trillions of US dollars were wiped off global markets. He has maintained a 10 percent
RSS