French Minister of the Armed Forces Sebastien Lecornu on Wednesday appeared to rebuff China’s claims of sovereignty over the Taiwan Strait in telling the French Senate that Paris would ensure freedom of navigation in the region.
Lecornu made the remark after French Senator Olivier Cadic brought up security in the Indo-Pacific region during a question-and-answer session.
Cadic said that prior to his visit to Taipei last year with French Senator Alain Richard, who heads the Taiwan Friendship Group, 56 Chinese military aircraft had entered Taiwan’s air defense identification zone.
Photo: AFP
Taipei continues to be harassed by Beijing, which has sent 55 percent more military aircraft toward Taiwan so far this year compared with the same period last year, he said.
In addition, Chinese and Russian warships sailed past waters near Japan on July 4, he said, adding that French Navy Chief of Staff Pierre Vandier had said that China is threatening more countries around the South China Sea more frequently.
“The militarization and polarization in the Indo-Pacific region are unfortunate facts, and France should respond to them,” he said, asking the minister about how to enhance the country’s military presence in the region.
He then asked Lecornu about Taiwan issues, given that China last month claimed ownership of the Taiwan Strait as the French Senate is next week to welcome Legislative Speaker You Si-kun (游錫堃).
“Regarding the measures France takes to ensure the freedom of navigation in the Taiwan Strait, what can we tell the speaker?” he asked.
Lecornu said that France would protect that freedom.
“Diplomatically, it is France’s stance that Taiwan and China should keep communicating. Militarily, without a doubt, France would ensure the freedom of navigation protected by international laws,” he said.
He said that the patrolling missions in international waters are part of the efforts to ensure that freedom, adding that sending nuclear-powered submarines to patrol the South China Sea would “urge other countries to follow the international law of the sea.”
The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday last week said that the Taiwan Strait was not international waters and that China has “sovereign rights and jurisdiction” over it.
The US Department of State issued a statement on Saturday last week saying that “the Taiwan Strait is an international waterway.”
Although Lecornu did not mention the Strait specifically, his statement made France the first European country to support Taiwan on the issue and reiterate the importance of the freedom of navigation.
‘CORRECT IDENTIFICATION’: Beginning in May, Taiwanese married to Japanese can register their home country as Taiwan in their spouse’s family record, ‘Nikkei Asia’ said The government yesterday thanked Japan for revising rules that would allow Taiwanese nationals married to Japanese citizens to list their home country as “Taiwan” in the official family record database. At present, Taiwanese have to select “China.” Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said the new rule, set to be implemented in May, would now “correctly” identify Taiwanese in Japan and help protect their rights, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. The statement was released after Nikkei Asia reported the new policy earlier yesterday. The name and nationality of a non-Japanese person marrying a Japanese national is added to the
AT RISK: The council reiterated that people should seriously consider the necessity of visiting China, after Beijing passed 22 guidelines to punish ‘die-hard’ separatists The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has since Jan. 1 last year received 65 petitions regarding Taiwanese who were interrogated or detained in China, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. Fifty-two either went missing or had their personal freedoms restricted, with some put in criminal detention, while 13 were interrogated and temporarily detained, he said in a radio interview. On June 21 last year, China announced 22 guidelines to punish “die-hard Taiwanese independence separatists,” allowing Chinese courts to try people in absentia. The guidelines are uncivilized and inhumane, allowing Beijing to seize assets and issue the death penalty, with no regard for potential
‘UNITED FRONT’ FRONTS: Barring contact with Huaqiao and Jinan universities is needed to stop China targeting Taiwanese students, the education minister said Taiwan has blacklisted two Chinese universities from conducting academic exchange programs in the nation after reports that the institutes are arms of Beijing’s United Front Work Department, Minister of Education Cheng Ying-yao (鄭英耀) said in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper) published yesterday. China’s Huaqiao University in Xiamen and Quanzhou, as well as Jinan University in Guangzhou, which have 600 and 1,500 Taiwanese on their rolls respectively, are under direct control of the Chinese government’s political warfare branch, Cheng said, citing reports by national security officials. A comprehensive ban on Taiwanese institutions collaborating or
STILL COMMITTED: The US opposes any forced change to the ‘status quo’ in the Strait, but also does not seek conflict, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said US President Donald Trump’s administration released US$5.3 billion in previously frozen foreign aid, including US$870 million in security exemptions for programs in Taiwan, a list of exemptions reviewed by Reuters showed. Trump ordered a 90-day pause on foreign aid shortly after taking office on Jan. 20, halting funding for everything from programs that fight starvation and deadly diseases to providing shelters for millions of displaced people across the globe. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who has said that all foreign assistance must align with Trump’s “America First” priorities, issued waivers late last month on military aid to Israel and Egypt, the
RSS