The subject is sensitive and the controversy over thirty years old. Tuesday, May 12, Beijing urged Paris to "cancel" an armament contract with Taiwan as part of the modernization of ships acquired in 1991 from France. For Beijing, Taiwan is part of a "single China" and this principle must be accepted by all the countries with which it maintains diplomatic relations.

Zhao Lijian, spokesman for the Chinese foreign ministry, said that China was resolutely opposed to any arms sale to Taiwan. "We have already expressed our grave concern to France," he said during a press briefing.

"We again urge the French side to respect the principle of one China and to abandon this plan to sell arms to Taiwan so as not to damage Franco-Chinese relations."

Paris sweeps the critics

Critics brushed aside by France, which invites China to "focus" rather on the collective fight against the coronavirus pandemic. "In the face of the Covid-19 crisis, all our attention and all our efforts must be focused on the fight against the pandemic," declared the French Foreign Ministry the day after the Beijing warning.

"Within the framework of the Franco-Chinese declaration of 1994, France implements the policy of a single China and continues to call for dialogue between the two banks of the strait", stresses one at the Quai d'Orsay .

Taiwan, which became the refuge of the Kuomintang nationalists after the Communists came to power in 1949 in mainland China, is a highly sensitive subject for Beijing, which considers the island as one of its provinces.

"France strictly respects in this context the contractual commitments it has formed with Taiwan and has not changed its position since 1994," said the French Foreign Minister.

Taiwan wants to modernize its frigates

In 1991, France signed the sale of six frigates to Taiwan for $ 2.8 billion, causing a freeze in Franco-Chinese diplomatic relations. And the announcement by the Taiwanese navy, which indicated on April 7, 2020 that it wanted to modernize these frigates, has rekindled these tensions.

A source close to the file confirmed to AFP that a contract has been made by the Taiwanese Ministry of Defense for the modernization of the Dagaie lure launcher system which equips the six frigates. A decoy launcher is a system used to avoid being struck by an enemy missile.

According to Taiwanese media, the cost of the transaction is more than 800 million Taiwan dollars (24.6 million euros).

With AFP and Reuters

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