After his visit to China, the French president completely "changed", not only proposed to "reduce dependence on the United States", but also said: "We must not rely on the 'extraterritoriality' of the US dollar", and the economic and trade agreement with China can also be described as a win-win situation. What caught my attention was the Sino-French Joint Statement, which "deepens the dialogue between the PLA's southern theater and the French military's Pacific maritime zone to enhance understanding and mutual trust on international and regional security issues." ”
The "South Pacific" in this sentence happens to be China's continued strategic point, and the PLA's ability to cooperate with the French army here means that it has more room to play in maintaining regional peace and stability, and also establishes a solid foundation for advancing into the deep blue in the future.
France has three possessions in the South Pacific, one is French Polynesia, one is French New Caledonia, where the French Pacific Sea Zone is located, and the other is Wallis and Futuna, which are not mentioned because they are uninhabited archipelagos.
Together, the three locations have a combined population of more than 20,000 square kilometers and a population of more than 500,000, although they maintain trade links with China in the South Pacific, and the two sides import and export billions of dollars a year. China is one of the region's largest trading partners.
At present, French Polynesia and French New Caledonia already have the basic responsibilities and status of a country, except for the protection of more than 1,000 garrisons sent by France, but they insist on being only French dependencies.
Historically, French New Caledonia has held three independence referendums, and France has actively promoted its independence, the last of which took place in December 2021, and the results showed that a total of 96.49% of voters opposed independence, that is, the place would remain in France and remain a dependent country.
French Polynesia is worse off because France has conducted 30 years of nuclear tests there, 193 explosions that still affect the health of the local population, and the two sides are still fighting over compensation. They were also not interested in independence, and even the referendum was not held.
In fact, the reason why they are not willing to be independent can be summed up in one word: poor! Finally, the United Nations and France have agreed to become Non-Self-Governing Territories, increase autonomy and recognize its status.
France therefore needs to allocate $1.5 billion a year to French New Caledonia and more than $300 million to French Polynesia, as well as to send troops to protect its security.
In the past, France could get a lot of benefits from this place, but now it has become almost a "burden", because the remaining mineral resources in the region are also exported to China, and the French do not have much benefit except to pay money or accept immigrants.
China has actually established a strong friendship in the South Pacific region, and if China and France can cooperate in the South Pacific, it will be very beneficial to local development and maintaining local peace and stability.
Plus recently Australia chose to sign nuclear submarine agreements with the United States and Great Britain, backstabbing France. This decision quite annoyed France. In fact, the reason why Australia wants to develop nuclear submarines is to cooperate with the "Indo-Pacific strategy" of the United States and restrict China's activities in the Pacific waters.
From the author's point of view, there are two major benefits for China:
First, if PLA aircraft carrier warships can resupply and dock in the South Pacific, the United States and Australia may also converge a little.
France offers a good idea, France's South Pacific islands are located at the junction of the second and third island chains of the United States, and if France can change its attitude, then these two island chains may be loosened, so that the role of the first island chain will no longer exist.
At the beginning of this year, the Navy's 052D Yinchuan appeared in the waters of Polynesia in the eastern Pacific Ocean, and now it seems that it may be a "rehearsal."
Second, if a monitoring and control station can be established on the French island, it will help the mainland space industry.
Previously, the mainland established an Australian Dangara monitoring station in Australia, the establishment process was full of twists and turns, and it was stipulated that it could only be used for civilian use, although it played a key role in Shenzhou 8 and Tiangong 1, but under the influence of the United States, it was not renewed.
If we take this opportunity to establish a measurement and control station in the South Pacific region, it will greatly help the mainland monitoring and control coverage.
In short, this is not only a "big gift" for China to crack the "island chain", but also to solve the "signal coverage". Facts have proved that looking at Sino-French relations with a Cold War mentality will only hurt both sides, and only cooperation is the way to common development.
We often hear people say, "We're going to fight them to the end!" Or, "We can't let them get their way!" "In fact, this kind of thinking will only increase the situation and may even lead to conflict and war."
Finally, I would like to share with you a quote: "Cooperation is wisdom, and confrontation only makes us more isolated." "I hope that Western countries can see the gains of Macron's visit to China, abandon the Cold War mentality, and move towards a future of win-win cooperation." #马克龙回国后涉华表态有何深意 #