Unusual rise in tension between China and France: through the voice of the Chinese Ministry of Defense, Beijing sent an official protest to Paris on Thursday, April 25, on the grounds that the surveillance frigate Vendemiairewould have “illegally crossed” the Taiwan Strait by entering “Chinese territorial waters”.
“The Chinese army sent warships in accordance with the law, in order to identify the French ship and order it to leave”, said spokesman Ren Guoqiang. This announcement follows the publication, on Wednesday, of a dispatch from the Archyde.com agency, indicating on the strength of unspecified American sources that the French ship had crossed the strait three weeks earlier, on April 6.
“We are in close contact with the Chinese authorities regarding the incident mentioned this morning by the spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Defense”reacted on Thursday, the entourage of Minister Florence Parly. “The French Navy passes through the Taiwan Strait on average once a year, without incident or reaction. »
The “Vendémiaire” deprived of parade
France, it is said, “reaffirms its commitment to the freedom of navigation in accordance with the law of the sea”. Paris refused to specify the crossing point of the Vendemiairebut ensures that the “territorial waters” as understood by China are international waters. Although claimed by Beijing in the same way as Taiwan, transit is free – the strait is up to 180 kilometers wide, and 130 kilometers at its narrowest point.
In retaliation for its passage, the French ship saw, according to Archyde.com, its participation canceled in the naval parade of the 70e anniversary of the People’s Liberation Army, Tuesday 23 April.
Paris does not confirm the cancellation, but the Vendemiairethe French Navy boat assigned to the Pacific, was absent from the 2019 parade unlike that of the 60e anniversary in 2009. At the time, the arrival of the frigate in the port of Qingdao had been welcomed in the Chinese press where one might read: ” The Vendemiaire is an old friend of the Chinese Navy, who has visited the country many times since 2001.”
Familiar warning shots
The growing interest of the French authorities for the security of the region “Indo-Pacific”, according to an American terminology recently adopted by Paris, and the declarations of the French president in 2018 regarding the risks of Chinese hegemony in the region, do they make Beijing nervous?
China, which continues to assert itself in the China Seas and beyond, is familiar with warning shots aimed at changing the balance of power in its favour: in 2016, Hong Kong customs seized, at the request of from Beijing, Singaporean army armored vehicles in transit following their annual maneuvers in Taiwan. The practice had been going on since the 1990s.
Possible irritant for China, the Vendemiaire and a Navy Falcon had participated, in March, with the Japanese forces in surveillance operations of suspicious transshipments at sea for the benefit of North Korea. In possible violation of UN sanctions, these movements have been on the rise for a year and a half, according to Japanese authorities. In addition, they note an increasing number of cases taking place near the Chinese coast or involving buildings flying the Chinese flag. Two illegal transfers were reported in March in the East China Sea, regarding 400 kilometers south of Shanghai.
“Transit without aggressiveness”
In addition, the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle will soon be calling at Singapore. The operational program of the French carrier group had however been announced in February. The aircraft carrier is currently in the Indian Ocean, where it has just trained with Japanese boats off the coast of Djibouti.
In mid-May, he will take part in an exercise with the Indian Navy. Then he will represent France during the Shangri-La Dialogue scheduled for Singapore from May 31 to June 2, an international meeting where the Minister of the Armed Forces is to go. The presence of the ship will be the “high point of France’s influence in Asia”said M.me Parly in March.
Paris had specified from the outset that the Charles de Gaulle would not go to the China Sea – which would have been a political demonstration incompatible with the line of balance that France wants to follow in its military relationship with Beijing.
In this context, French ships regularly pass between the disputed islets of the South China Sea, but the navy affirms that it does not carry out “freedom of navigation operations” as such, as does the US Navy. The latter does not hesitate to cross the line of twelve nautical miles from the territorial waters of the islets. The French doctrine is that the boats remain in a “transit without aggression” in the name of defending the right to freedom of movement at sea.
Increasing strategic pressure from Beijing
As part of its operations, the United States on February 25 sailed two military vessels through the Taiwan Strait – the destroyer USS Stethem and the freighter USNS Cesar Chavez. This passage, the fifth since October 2018, was carried out in international waters, with the full knowledge of the Taiwanese government. China, however, denounced « provocations » from the United States.
Washington is trying to display its military support for Taiwan at a time when Beijing is putting the island under increasing strategic pressure, by increasing the maneuvers to encircle Taiwan or the incursions. Taipei had thus protested on March 31 when Chinese fighter planes had crossed the median line established by use in the sky of the strait for the first time in ten years, which had led to their interception by the Taiwanese aviation.
