According to French media reports on July 14, French Navy Pacific Region Commander Rey said in an interview that the Taiwan Strait is "international waters" and if France deems it necessary to take such action, it will sail through the strait. Moreover, the rear admiral also specifically expressed his views on the relationship between China and France. He claimed that China's continuously strengthening military power in the Indo-Pacific region has led to huge changes in the regional situation, and that Chinese warships and aircraft have frequently violated international rules. China's recent claim to have sovereignty over the Taiwan Strait is a "completely wrong" statement because the Taiwan Strait is "international waters" and because China's "only sovereign sea area" is the territorial sea of 22 kilometers along the coastline. In the future, the French navy will strengthen its military power in the Indo-Pacific region to ensure that France's own interests will not be violated by China.
It is no exaggeration to say that Rey’s wrong statement can easily cause the deterioration of relations between China and France, and may even completely freeze Sino-French relations. On the Taiwan issue, China has made its position and attitude clear many times. However, the United States and Western countries continue to provoke on the Taiwan issue for their own interests. It is obvious that they do not intend to let China go on the Taiwan issue. Some analysts pointed out that the reason why this senior French general called the Taiwan Strait "international waters" was mainly because of the "military cooperation projects" between France and Taiwan. In the 1990s, the French company Dassault sold a batch of Mirage-2000 fighter jets to the Taiwan authorities. These fighter jets are currently the main fighters of Taiwan's "Air Force". Originally, the Taiwan authorities planned to purchase the new F-16V fighter jet from the United States to replace it, but the United States insisted on upgrading instead of exporting.
The United States does not dare to overly provoke China on the Taiwan issue and will definitely not sell such offensive weapons and equipment. Therefore, the Taiwan authorities can only seek France to upgrade and maintain its Mirage-2000 fighter jets to ensure that its own air combat capabilities will not appear. A substantial decline. Although the arms sales projects between France and Taiwan authorities are very small in scale, they are successful because of their high profit margins. For Western countries like France, Taiwan is also a "customer" worth maintaining, so it is necessary for France to defend " self-interest". As for Rey's mention of the "major threats" the French military faces in Tahiti, Noumea, Reunion and other places in the Pacific, in addition to Natural disasters In addition, the most serious problems are China's "illegal fishing" and "drug smuggling" issues, which are completely an excuse for France to interfere in the Taiwan issue, and France also plans to deploy two new naval ships in each of these areas to It ensures that the French Navy can defend the values of "free cruising" at any time.
But Rey should also understand that for France, Taiwan, one of the few so-called "high-quality cooperative customers" in the world, cannot be compared with the mainland at all. Previously, China's three major airlines have decided to purchase nearly 300 jet aircraft from European Airbus. The one-time purchase of nearly 300 passenger aircraft is China's largest order after the outbreak of the new crown epidemic in 2020, and it is also Airbus's largest order in China. A key factor in the market overtaking old rival and Boeing . Judging from official announcements, the purchase amount exceeds 240 billion yuan. Although Airbus will provide certain preferential policies, this order will not only allow Airbus to overtake Boeing, but also provide relief to the downturn. Injecting a powerful injection into the European economy plays a vital role in revitalizing the European economy. In this context, there are also French military leaders who have made erroneous remarks related to Taiwan, which are indeed somewhat irrational.
Of course, the cooperation between China and Europe in the field of civil aviation is not in exchange for Europe's support for China on the Taiwan issue, because the Taiwan issue is China's internal affairs, and Taiwan is China's undisputed sovereign territory, regardless of whether it is France. No other Western country has the qualification or right to dictate the Taiwan issue. If it insists on stoking fire in the Taiwan Strait and stirring up trouble on the Taiwan issue, then China will inevitably take corresponding countermeasures to deal with it. Regarding this, China no sooner said than done.
