New tension between Paris and Beijing: China caused … Taiwan

The “old controversy” and the description of Paris are renewed each time that Taiwan is a destination to provoke Beijing; Another Western provocation, this time came through France after she called on China to focus on fighting the “Crown” epidemic, while she is interested in completing a $ 27 million arms deal to Taiwan. Entering Paris along the lines of the Taiwan-Beijing crisis, by a scant agreement, would ease the dispute between the two countries at a very delicate time, especially since the French will not be in a position to conclude large arms deals similar to those signed. between Washington and Taipei, the most prominent of which is a deal worth $ 8 billion to supply 66 F-16 fighters to the rebellious Chinese island.

Following the warning issued by Beijing regarding the sale of French military equipment to Taiwan and its theory calling for the abolition of an arms contract that “would harm Sino-French relations”, Paris considered that “our attention and efforts should focus on fighting the epidemic. ” The French Foreign Ministry noted that “France pursues the One China policy and continues to call for dialogue between the two sides of the strait, within the framework of the 1994 Franco-Chinese Declaration.” He also stated that “France strictly respects its commitments to Taiwan in this context, and has not changed its position since 1994.”
The controversial deal related to the sale of equipment for six Lafayette French frigates sold to the Taiwanese navy in 1991 for $ 2.8 billion, which, at the time, caused a crisis in diplomatic relations between Paris and Beijing. A year later, in 1992, France sold the Chinese island of 60 Mirage fighters. The “crisis” began when the Taiwanese navy announced, in a brief statement on April 7, its intention to update its French frigates, while a source close to this file told Agence France-Presse that the Defense Ministry from Taiwan signed a contract to modernize the “Digue” camouflage launch system featuring its six frigates. This system is used to prevent any attack from an enemy missile. The value of the deal amounts to more than Taiwanese dollars 800 million (26.8 million dollars), according to the Taiwanese media, which indicated that the purchase will be made by the French company “DCI-Disco”, the unit affiliated to the International Council of Defense (Defense Consei International-D). EC.
Despite France’s need for the millions of protective masks it requested from China, the tension between the two countries was exacerbated a month after the Chinese ambassador to Paris was summoned to the back of the embassy tweets defending the superiority of the Chinese model in the fight against the “Crown” and criticizing the strategy adopted by the West to respond to the epidemic.