Analysis: French President Emmanuel Macron's Visit to Southeast Asia

TaiwanPlus News

French President Emmanuel Macron is on a three-country visit to Southeast Asia. Jean-Loup Samaan of National University of Singapore tells TaiwanPlus that France wants to pitch itself as an alternative to the U.S.-China rivalry for countries in the region.

Transcript

00:00This is the first visit of a French president to Vietnam in nearly a decade.

00:04Why is this trip happening now?

00:06Well, first of all, this is a trip that has been in the making for a long time.

00:11President Macron had already suggested that he would attend and give a speech to the Shangri-La Dialogue even before COVID.

00:20And we know that during his first term, he already had released the first Indo-Pacific strategy.

00:25France at the time, so in 2019, was the first European country to release an Indo-Pacific strategy.

00:32So overall, Macron has a particular interest in the region.

00:38In addition to that, I think the timing matters also because this is happening as we see the Asian countries,

00:46in particular countries such as Vietnam, suffering from the U.S.-China competition,

00:52trying as much as possible to escape the dilemma between Washington and Beijing.

00:58What is France's Indo-Pacific strategy?

01:02First, the most obvious way is the trade deals.

01:05We see, especially during that trip, deals being signed with regards to Airbus planes being signed and procured by Vietnam.

01:17So there's also the arms sales, which is a significant part of that policy.

01:22Indonesia procured Rafale fighter jets.

01:25It also ordered French submarines in the past.

01:29But I would add also that there is, I would say, a regional diplomatic aspect.

01:35France is trying as much as possible also to be part of the Indo-Pacific security architecture.

01:42So it is a development partner of ASEAN.

01:46It is a member state of the Indian Ocean Ream Association.

01:50What will Macron be aiming to achieve at the Shangri-La Dialogue later this week?

01:54There are things which we can reasonably expect from the speech,

01:59which is to reaffirm French ambitions in the Indo-Pacific,

02:04French commitment to principles such as freedom of navigation in the South China Sea or in the Strait of Taiwan.

02:12There's probably going to be also elements regarding the French presence in the region,

02:17because this is also something to keep in mind that France historically sees itself as a resident power in the area

02:25because of its overseas territories in the Pacific Ocean, in the Indian Ocean as well.

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