The French Navy goes to South China Sea multiple times in a year as international 'law of the sea' is at risk there and it wants to support freedom of navigation, its chief said on Monday.
China claims the South China Sea as its sovereign territory, but these claims overlap with those of other Asian governments. Meanwhile, China on Monday urged the US military to "stop flexing muscles" in the disputed South China Sea, a point of persistent friction between both the sides.
French Navy Chief Admiral Christophe Prazuck said in New Delhi, "I don't think that Chinese Navy is hiding anything about their global appreciation and global ambition."
"There are different behaviours in South China Sea. First, why do we go there six, seven or ten times a year? We go there because international law of the sea is at risk in this area of the world. We don't want to participate in to the regional contexts about the islands," he added
Talking about the French defence budget and its strategic objective, he said, "It's increasing every year by 1.8 billion euros, which is not nothing....President Macron has put the target of 50 billion euros a year by 2025. It will not make France a superpower. France will never be a superpower for sure."
However, he said, "France has an original place among the countries and can do things, balancing and giving stability, and being in between different countries, and I think that the budget I have today is coherent with our ambitions."
He gave the reasons why Indo-Pacific is important to France, saying, "Firstly, because we are a riparian nation, secondly, because we depend so much on it for security and prosperity."
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