France on Wednesday dismissed China’s warnings about selling arms to Taiwan, saying it was implementing existing deals and that Beijing should focus on battling the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs warned Paris over a contract for Taiwan, which is planning to with weapons as part of an upgrade to a French-made warship fleet bought 30 years ago.
The French Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs responded by saying it followed a “one China” policy as agreed with Beijing in 1994 and continued to urge both sides to hold dialogue.
“Within this context France respects the contractual commitments it made with Taiwan and has not changed its position since 1994,” the French ministry said in a statement. “Facing the COVID-19 crisis, all our attention and efforts should be focused on battling the pandemic.”
The timing of the dispute is awkward for Paris, which has ordered millions of masks from China because of the coronavirus outbreak.
Last month, the French foreign ministry summoned China’s ambassador over posts and tweets by the embassy defending Beijing’s response to the pandemic and criticizing the West’s handling of the outbreak.
Taiwan is mostly equipped with US-made weapons, but in 1991 France sold Taiwan six Lafayette frigates. France in 1992 sold Taiwan 60 Mirage fighter jets.
Taiwan last month said that it was seeking to buy equipment from France to upgrade the ships’ missile interference system.
The Ministry of National Defense quoted the navy as saying it was following related procurement regulations for the purchase to meet its “combat needs.” It declined further comment.
Media reported that Taiwan was proposing to spend around NT$800 million (US$26.71 million) on the DAGAIE missile interference system from French firm DCI-DESCO.
Taiwan says it needs to upgrade its armed forces to deal with a growing threat from China, which has stepped up military drills near the nation.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
A magnitude 4.9 earthquake struck off Tainan at 11:47am today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 32.3km northeast of Tainan City Hall at a depth of 7.3km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Tainan and Chiayi County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Chiayi City and County, and Yunlin County, while it was measured as 2 in Kaohsiung, Nantou County, Changhua County, Taitung County and offshore Penghu County, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
RSS