Last month, weeks away from handing over command of the Asia-Pacific zone [ALPACI] and armed forces in Polynesia, Rear-Admiral Jean-Mathieu Rey said he saw “increasingly aggressive aggression” among the Chinese forces, especially in the regions over which Beijing claims its sovereignty. And to describe a “rise in tensions” making “more and more likely” a risk of “slippage”.
This finding was recently shared by the Pentagon. For example, on July 27, the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs, Ely Ratner, reported a “sharp increase in unsafe and unprofessional behavior by ships and aircraft [chinois], with respect not only to American forces but also to allied forces operating in the region”. And to add: “We see Beijing combining its growing military power with a greater willingness to take risks”.
In recent months, Canada and Australia have denounced the “dangerous” behavior of the Chinese air force with regard to their maritime patrol planes, then engaged in operations aimed at defending the freedom of navigation. [FONOP – Freedom of Navigation OPeration] or in missions under the UNSC ECC [United Nations Security Council Enforcement Coordination Cell]a United Nations structure responsible for documenting violations of international sanctions against North Korea for its nuclear and ballistic activities.
And French ships are not spared. “We have a lot of evidence that shows a change in posture [chez les Chinois, ndlr]. Our boats are systematically followed, sometimes forced to maneuver in front of Chinese ships to avoid a collision, in defiance of the rules of freedom of navigation that we defend”, had indeed denounced Admiral Pierre Vandier, the heads of state- Major of the Navy [CEMM]in an interview published by the newspaper “Le Monde”.
But it is above all in the Taiwan Strait that most of these incidents and other intimidation maneuvers take place.
“The recent Chinese statement that the waters of the Taiwan Strait are waters under Chinese sovereignty is false. It is an international strait. What is under Chinese sovereignty are the territorial waters, i.e. 12 nautical miles. […] So the first thing is to react to these assertions,” Admiral Rey argued.
That being so, and while, in response to the Taiwanese stopover by Nancy Pelosi, the President of the House of Representatives of the United States Congress, she has just launched military maneuvers of an unprecedented scale around Taiwan, that it considers as a “rebellious province”, China will very likely harden even more the tone with regard to the transits of foreign ships in the strait.
However, the United States has no intention of lowering the flag. “We will be conducting air and sea transits through the Taiwan Strait over the coming weeks, again in line with our longstanding approach of upholding the freedom of the seas and international law,” said John Kirby. , the National Security Council coordinator for strategic communications, on August 4.
According to Mr. Kirby, China is using Ms. Pelosi’s visit to Taipei to “raise the stakes and tensions” in order to “establish a new status quo”. However, he continued, “we are not going to accept a new status quo in cross-strait relations” and the “world will also reject it”. [ce qui n’est pas si sûr, la Chine ayant ses obligés… et le soutien de la Russie].
In the meantime, the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan will remain, with its carrier battle group, in the Philippine Sea and around Taiwan to “monitor the situation”. Certainly nuclear attack submarines [SNA] Americans are also sailing around…
However, Mr. Kirby also said that an escalation of tensions “would not be in our interests”. Hence the announcement of the postponement, to an unspecified date, of a test of intercontinental missile with nuclear capacity Minuteman III, which should have taken place on August 6 or 7. “As China engages in destabilizing military exercises around Taiwan, the United States is instead demonstrating responsible nuclear power behavior by reducing the risks of miscalculation and misperception,” he said. he argues.