French nuclear-powered submarine ship SNA Emeraude (SNA Emeraude) French Defense Ministry official website photo © Web Photo
The French defense minister announced on the 8th that two navy ships have been cruising in the South China Sea recently, and in an interview published on France 24 website on the 12th, scholars analyzed the meaning behind this move. They believe that this is a signal that France is not afraid of China and will defend its own interests.
French Defense Minister Florence Parly announced on Twitter on the 8th that the nuclear-powered attack submarine SNA Emeraude and the support ship BSAM Seine had recently passed through the South China Sea, where tensions are rife.
This particular patrol has just passed through the South China Sea,” Paley wrote. It is a remarkable testament to the French Navy’s ability to deploy permanently to distant lands, alongside its strategic partners in Australia, the United States and Japan.” Yet because China claims sovereignty over the disputed waters, France is likely to anger Beijing as a result.
Jean-Vincent Brisset, an Asia security expert at the French Institute for Strategic and International Relations (IRIS), told France24 that France’s maritime mission starting in September 2020 includes “cruising in the Indo-Pacific region” to demonstrate “France’s ongoing military presence in the region,” which is what Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said he wanted to do. This is what Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian promised in 2017 when he was defense minister.
France even officially announced in 2019 the “Indo-Pacific” defense doctrine, showing the importance France attaches to the region. Brisset pointed out that in the geopolitical context of the US-China tensions in the South China Sea and the Australia-China confrontation, France is trying to remind the world that it will defend its interests in Asian waters.
The French nuclear-powered submarine SNA Emeraude (SNA Emeraude) is pictured on the official website of the French Ministry of Defense © Web Photo
Antoine Bondaz, a researcher at the French Foundation for Strategic Studies (FRS), told the French media that “legally, it is legal for the French Navy to sail around the world and carry out missions”.
Beijing naturally does not like foreign navies sailing in these waters, but it is not the first Time France has done so. France sent a patrol ship through the Taiwan Strait in 2019, which Beijing subsequently protested.
Nonetheless, France decided to return to the waters, and to send a nuclear-powered attack submarine.” Jean-Dominique Merchet, military correspondent for l’Opinion, stressed that “this sends a much stronger signal than a patrol ship.”
According to Brisset, in the global vein of diplomatic relations, it is a way for France to show that it is not afraid of power relations with China.
For his part, Poindazi said, “This is a way to show our partners in Australia, India and Japan that we are not just saying nice things. France must show that it is ready to act to defend our principles, and only then will we have credibility in the region”.
The newspaper noted that the Paris move seems to have worked, as China has not officially reacted to the Jade. Boondatz feels that Beijing, after assessing the situation, did not see the need.
The reason for this is not only that a single submarine of this type is not a first-line threat, but also because a formal Chinese response “could backfire.
On the one hand, Chinese public opinion would have the impression that the government is not in full control of the area; on the other hand, an overreaction to a submarine that is not a particular military threat would reinforce the Perception among other countries that China already views the South China Sea as an internal sea. With the U.S. and China in an intensified tug-of-war, China does not need to provoke further resistance from the European front.
The point, however, is how long Beijing will remain silent. Paley told France 24 that France expects to patrol the region every year. Paley added that in a few weeks, France plans to send an “amphibious fleet” to Japan.
Laurent Amelot, a researcher at the Institut Thomas More, also published an article in the international relations network Boulevard Exterieur today under the title “Support for Taiwan – the principles of European policy in the face of Chinese aggression”.
He pointed out that Taiwan’s rising anti-China sentiment in recent years, coupled with its excellent performance against the Epidemic and the effectiveness of its southward diplomacy, has given Taiwan increasing international visibility and room for maneuver, which is unacceptable to Beijing.
In the context of Beijing’s increased military threats and intimidation, “Europe should raise the level of its response and adopt an autonomous Indo-Pacific strategy built on its values and interests, supporting the Free and Open Indo-Pacific Strategies”.
Taiwan should have a selective place in this new European strategy,” Amelo concludes the article. Given its interests in the region, France, together with Germany and the United Kingdom, plays an important role in co-constructing this emerging new regional liberal order.”
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