PARIS (TASS): French Minister of the Armed Forces Florence Parly believes that one of the reasons for France’s presence in the Indo-Pacific region is China’s aggressive policy.
“France is present in the Indo-Pacific region, in particular, because it believes that for the coastal countries, the increase in the power of China, the increase in its aggressiveness creates a lot of problems. And therefore France seeks to create an alternative to this growing aggressiveness of China,” French Minister of the Armed Forces Florence Parly said on Tuesday. speaking at the National Assembly.
She noted that another reason for France’s presence in the region is that she “does not want to allow her voice and the voice of Europe to be ignored.”
“There is a clear desire on the part of the United States to increase its power by means of escalation and confrontation with China. This confrontation could turn into military change,” Parley said.
“We strive to avoid this by advocating for peace and the normalization of international relations in this very important area of the world, through which transportation passes, which makes up about 56% of world GDP,” she added.
According to the French Minister of War, in connection with the current situation, in particular because of Australia’s refusal to purchase its submarines, France “is considering various options for relations with its partners.”
In this regard, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian is currently conducting such consultations in New York at the session of the United Nations General Assembly.
“We intend to work out with our European partners a common European line of action,” French Minister of the Armed Forces Florence Parly said.
Speaking about the French presence in the region, the French Minister of the Armed Forces Florence Parly also noted that France is “a country that has possessions in the Indo-Pacific region and has its own interests there.”
“There are about 2 million French people living there and 93% of our exclusive maritime zone is located there. This fully justifies the French [military] presence there, as well as justifies France’s desire to play the role that belongs to it,” French Minister of the Armed Forces Parly said.
