11 August 2020, NIICE Commentary 5804
Jelvin Jose
The resolution demanding a fair probe into the COVID-19 outburst at the World Health Organisation (WHO) council, backed by over 122 nations, noted a black day in the history of China’s international engagements. France has been at the frontlines of the campaign, censuring China for its alleged mis-handling of the virus and the French President, Immanuel Macron himself, himself stepped into a confrontation with Beijing blaming it for the same.
Besides this, Paris extended its unflinching support to New Delhi in border stand-off with Beijing. Concomitantly, Beijing and Paris have once again locked horns over the French defense supply to Taiwan. Apart from the mutual engagement, several regional and international politico-strategic developments take center stage while interpreting Sino-French relations’ ongoing trajectory. A multitude of determinants incorporating the ideological standpoints, global vision, value sets, strategic alinements, and economic interaction assumes new criticality concerning the interaction between both. The scope and future of the Sino-French relations necessitate a renewed appraisal in the backdrop of this unfolding scenario.
Sino-French Engagements
France and China enjoy historical relations that date back to the period of the Chinese emperor Kangxi and King Louis. Formal diplomatic relations were established between China and France on 27 January 1964. Since the end of the last century, the Sino-French relations gained momentum following a set of top-level bilateral visits. The periodic interactions among the top leadership now have become a natural characteristic of the Sino-French engagements.
Strategic dialogue between Paris and Beijing was launched in 2001, comprising of climate change, regional developments, and global governance to the fold of two-sided consultations. Following this, in 2004, the mutual connection was elevated to the ‘Global Strategic Partnership.’ On similar lines, both countries commenced the High Level Economic and Financial Dialogue in 2013 to discuss economic concerns. In 2017, France and China entered an extra bilateral mechanism called High-Level Dialogue on Human Exchanges to advance the cultural and scientific partnership.
The former French President Francois Hollande undertook his maiden visit to China in November 2013. During this bilateral visit, China Aviation Supplies Holding Company (CAS) clinched the deal for the purchase of 18 A330 aircraft and 42 A320 aircraft from Airbus. Thus, the Airbus CEO Fabrics Bregier and CAS president-cum-CEO, Li Hai, inked a General Terms Agreement (GTA) in the presence of Hollande and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
In line with the China Daily, Hollande and Xi Jinping inked 18 exchanges for mutual collaboration. These encompass the arrangement for the sale of 60 Airbus aircraft and an agreement to extend the bilateral cooperation in the civil nuclear sector. In September 2016, the state-owned French energy giant Electricity De France (EDF) joined hands with China General Nuclear Power Corp to execute the U.K.’s Hinkley Nuclear power project.
In November 2015, former French President Francois Hollande arrived at Beijing for his second official bilateral visit, few months ahead of the critical Paris Climate Treaty. The Guardian reported that the French President solicited Beijing’s support, the world’s largest greenhouse gas emitter, for the realization of the global climate endeavor. The Chinese leadership reciprocated positively to Hollande’s call for action.
Later in 2019, Emmanuel Macron, during his China trip, joined hands with Beijing, standing up to Washington’s stance on the Climate Treaty and open trade. Delivering a speech at the China International Import Expo held at Shanghai, President Macron declared that no one wins the trade war while also criticizing the Chinese protectionist measures containing the foreign players in the country. In this visit, Macron and Xi Jinping signed a deal reinstating their pledge to the Global Climate Change cause done during the 2015 UNFCCC summit.
Besides this, as per the South China Morning Post, Paris and Beijing signed 40 mutual agreements embracing the Trade, Tourism, Health, aviation, energy, and digital technology sectors worth USD 15 billion. President Macron scored a substantial diplomatic triumph, striking a USD 34 billion contract for French firm Airbus, for the supply of 300 aircraft to the Chinese aviation sector. The consignment, once given to Boeing, was revised in the aftermath of the Boeing 737 Max Jet’s repeated crashes.
The bilateral trade value hit USD 11.5 billion in 2000. Now it has exceeded USD 62 billion. France is the 7th largest export destination of French goods and services. The exportation from Paris holds 1.4 percent of the Chinese market share. In return, China is the second most significant source of French imports. There is a massive asymmetry in bilateral trade as China owns a surplus of over USD 32 billion. More than 1,100 French firms have made inroads to China, and the FDI inflow to China from Paris was marked to be over USD 25 billion as of 2018. Other than these, both have undertaken joint research and development enterprises in the space sector and to check infectious diseases.
Major Irritants
China and France have divisive standpoints on various vital issues while setting collaboration on many fronts. France started the bilateral relationship with China, eight years in advance to its partners, Germany and the United Kingdom.
However, the French decision to sell weaponry to Taiwan drew howls of outrage from Beijing. Paris sold La Fayette-Class Frigates in 1991 and 60 Mirage 2000-5s in 1992 on request of Taiwan. The Chinese authorities, which perceived it as a severe violation of its territorial integrity, ordered the French Consulate to shut down in China’s Guangzhou. The divides had been mended after the French authorities admitted to restricting their defense corporations from rendering weapons to Taiwan in 1994.
The row over the weapon supply has re-emerged in the current environment after three decades as Paris has decided to go ahead with plans to assist Taiwan in refurbishing the Missile interference system of the French vessels which it procured in 1991. As per the new deal, Taiwan would procure the DAGAIE missile defense system for USD 26.8 million from the French defense firm DCI-DESCO. The fresh consignment would boost the survival capacity of Taiwan Navy’s six Kang Ding-Class missile frigates, supplementing DAGAIE MK. 2 decoy- launchers to Taiwan’s stockpile. The French defensive armament would scale up the Taiwanese ability to withstand China’s offensive missile onslaught.
Beijing has already articulated its dissent, saying it is a breach of the One-China Principle, agreeing to which is a primary condition to sustain diplomatic ties with China. In May, the Chinese spokesperson warned Paris that its new move transgressing the 1994 convention would hamper the bilateral relations between both countries. Despite this, Paris has clarified its unwillingness to step back from the drive stating that it is only fulfilling the contractual obligations with Taiwan.
In October 2019, amid the Beijing trip of President Macron, French spokesperson criticised the suppression of Hong Kong demonstrations. Beijing gave a harsh response to the EU and French statement, terming it ‘hypocritic.’ The Chinese spokesperson challenged Paris’s empathy to the protesters on former British islands while unleashing violence towards protesters at home.
The pandemic outbreak has been one another instance of the soured relationship between the China and France. France has been one of the severely hit states by the global pandemic. At the same time, it is to be noted that Macron, who raised concern over Beijing’s behavior towards Hong Kong protests, exercised silence over the human rights breaches in China’s Xinjiang territory during his visit. Nevertheless, in July 2020, France called for an UN-mission to inquire into alleged human rights infringement in China’s Xinjiang province.
In July 2020, as per the ANSSI report, instead of altogether banning Huawei, the French authorities are compelling Telecom players to avoid using the Huawei Gear. The decision comes out in contrast with the UK and Australian decision to completely ban the Chinese firm.
In contrast to other western countries, which have been hesitant to ink an extradition pact with Beijing, Paris signed an extradition treaty with China in 2015. As part of the agreement, Paris twice deported fugitives in September and October 2016.
Since the end of the last year, China and the western countries have been at loggerheads over the controversial National Security Law for Hong Kong. The new legislation further curtails the freedom of expression and curbs the island’s autonomy to a significant extend. Even after the law came into force on 30 January 2020, Paris, unlike the UK and Germany, which suspended the extradition treaty with Hong Kong, has not moved in that direction.
Conclusion
The backbone of the Sino-French bilateral relationship is economic cooperation and engagement but the cultural dimension of the bilateral exchange remains widely underexplored. Albeit of having distinct political alignments and keeping divergent global vision, Paris and Beijing want to enjoy the fruits of economic collaboration. Although Paris does not want to engage in an all-out-battle with Beijing, stark variations in worldview, political standpoints, and global values between both give rise to diplomatic strife and conflict of interests.
France’s stance towards the Hong-Kong and Xinjiang province is a growing irritant in the bilateral friendship. The Taiwan-France strategic relationship is a violation of Beijing’s fundamental policy frameworks. Moreover, the political and strategic alignments of both countries largely divaricate from each other. France’s growing defense cooperation with New Delhi and Taiwan is in opposition to China’s regional interests. These strategic and ideological contradictions hinder the scope of the Sino-French partnership beyond a particular limit.
