The French Senate released a strategic report on the Indo-Pacific region on the 27th, questioning that the Indo-Pacific strategy is not clear enough. In the report, Taiwan was mentioned more than 30 times, saying that France should firmly face China's hegemony and should not avoid Taiwan, but should further integrate Taiwan.

Pictured is the French Senate.

(AFP file photo)

[Central News Agency] The French Senate released a strategic report on the Indo-Pacific region on the 27th, questioning that France's Indo-Pacific strategy is not clear enough and mostly "declarative".

Taiwan was mentioned more than 30 times in the report, pointing out that France should firmly face China's hegemony, should not shy away from Taiwan, and should further incorporate Taiwan.

At the beginning of the year, the national strategies of the Indo-Pacific region were calibrated, and countries such as Japan, South Korea, the United States, and Canada have recently actively interacted with each other in the face of China's increasing threat of force.

As an Indo-Pacific country, France has multiple territories and 1.6 million citizens in the region. In recent years, it has repeatedly mentioned the layout of the Indo-Pacific and the current situation in the Taiwan Strait in its strategic reports.

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The Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee of the French Senate reviewed and approved the 133-page report submitted by the "French Indo-Pacific Strategic Advisory Group" on the 25th, which analyzed the strategic layout of the French Indo-Pacific region and mentioned Taiwan more than 30 times; Increasing pressure on the economic zone and lack of "clarity" in the French strategy.

The Senate announced on its official website on the 27th a report titled "French Strategy in the Indo-Pacific Region: From Ambition to Facts", written by Republican Senator Cedric Perrin and Socialist Congressman Rachid Temal. Hugues Saury, Jacques Le Nay, member of the Democratic Alliance, Andre Gattolin, member of the Baath Party, and Joel Guerriau, member of the Independent Democratic Alliance.

According to the report, France's Indo-Pacific region spans from the Gulf of Aden in the west to the border between South America and Antarctica in the east. It has a total of about 8,000 troops, half of which are deployed in the Middle East around the Arabian Sea, and the other half are scattered in French territories in the Indo-Pacific. superior.

The senator suggested that the region should be re-divided to focus military power to "further integrate the Western Pacific, Taiwan and Latin America".

According to the proposed division, Taiwan is located in the "Central Indo-Pacific region".

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the world's fifth-largest economy in the region, aspires to free trade and stability in the Indian Ocean, the report said, "and concerns about stability stem most directly from a neglected point in France's strategy: Taiwan."

The report emphasizes that "the Taiwan issue should not be evaded", although the executive power, as Antoine Bondaz, a researcher at the French Strategic Research Foundation (FRS), "let Taiwan disappear in diplomatic communication", but "the Senate in May 2021 The resolution passed on the 6th proposes that, according to Article 34-1 of the Constitution, support Taiwan's participation in the work of promoting safety and environmental protection in multiple international organizations. The senators voted through the motion to express their determination to include Taiwan, which will help the international community."

Members pointed out that France's national strategy report last year mentioned "the status quo of the Taiwan Strait"; France has repeatedly reiterated in multilateral, bilateral and unilateral forms that it opposes any unilateral use of force to change the status quo of the Taiwan Strait, and calls for strengthening cooperation with Taiwan on issues such as environmental protection Cooperation.

The report has a lot of space to analyze France's combat power in the Indo-Pacific region, including the number, type, and deployment of military bases, personnel, ships, and fighter jets.

However, it is concluded that due to old age or insufficient configuration, France's transportation and monitoring capabilities are insufficient. "Sometimes when the Indo-Pacific power passes through the French exclusive economic zone, the French military cannot be present, or cannot cope with simultaneous emergencies." .

In the content, the lawmaker pointed out that although France has launched diplomatic activism since 2018, appointed an Indo-Pacific ambassador in 2020, and deployed Indo-Pacific military missions many times, the French strategy is still "very declarative."

Behan and Demar worried that this goal is laudable, but it mostly relies on "soft power", without detailing the methods, manpower and financial arrangements to achieve it.

Since actions or objectives require resources, their continuity cannot be guaranteed.

France is currently adopting a "third route" strategy between the United States and China, but lawmakers questioned, given the vastness and complexity of the Indo-Pacific region, "wouldn't French strategy lose clarity for regional partners? No. Will it be weakened by multiple pathways?"

Members of parliament are worried that such a statement may have the opposite effect on some partners. "They will think that France's position is vague, especially the ambition does not match the real power. In the end, credibility and strategy will be problems."

Lawmakers pointed to China as a trading partner and competitor, as well as an increasingly aggressive institutional adversary.

The report recommends calling: "In the face of the Chinese Communist Party's hegemony attempt, France should confirm its firm and pragmatic position. It should emphasize the importance of China's compliance with international law and seek norms for territorial disputes. French strategy should take into account China's position, plans, and China’s attempt to proclaim itself the world’s number one power.”