Taiwan Strait missions are about international law, not provocation, French diplomat says
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Taiwan’s Kuang Hua VI-class missile boats taking part in spring military drills at the Tsoying Naval Base in Kaohsiung on Jan 29.
PHOTO: AFP
TAIPEI – Naval missions by foreign countries in the Taiwan Strait are about asserting international law, rather than offering provocation, France’s de facto ambassador in Taipei said on Feb 5, speaking of voyages that routinely infuriate China.
In addition to claiming sovereignty over democratically governed Taiwan, Beijing views the narrow, highly strategic strait as Chinese territorial waters and has responded aggressively on occasion to foreign navies sailing there.
“We are careful to send these naval assets into international waters without any provocation,” Mr Franck Paris, director of the French Office in Taipei, told reporters.
They aimed to send a clear message that international law prevails in the waters and should remain so, added Mr Paris, whose country is chairing the Group of Seven (G-7) nations for 2026.
US warships traverse the strait every few months, enraging Beijing, and some US allies, such as France, Australia, Britain and Canada, have also made occasional transits.
Mr Paris said it had now become routine for G-7 statements to include language on maintaining the status quo across the strait and opposing use of force or coercion.
“This is a clear message that we repeat all the time, and I think there is a good choreography between a number of G-7 partners to send this message,” he added, pointing to past naval trips by Canada and the Netherlands, among others.
The last publicly confirmed sailing by a French navy ship in the strait, a conduit for trade running into billions of dollars a year, was in 2024.
The government of Taiwan, which rejects Beijing’s sovereignty claims, welcomes such transits as support for freedom of navigation. China’s military routinely operates in the waterway
France, like most countries, has no formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan, but is viewed by Taipei as an important partner and fellow democracy.
Three decades ago, it sold Mirage fighter jets and frigates to Taiwan, although the US is the island’s most important international source of arms
“These assets are still used by the Taiwanese defence,” Mr Paris said, adding that French companies helped maintain them by providing necessary equipment.
“This is the framework that we are committed to and this framework has not been questioned for years.” REUTERS
