The malaise is obvious in the ranks of the Nupes. While popular China embarks on military exercises to protest against the visit of the elected American Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan, the controversy mounts against Jean-Luc Mélenchon. In question, comments by the head of La France insoumise deemed favorable to the Beijing regime: the arrival of the President of the House of Representatives is “a provocation” and “there is only one China, of which Taiwan is a part”, declares Jean-Luc Mélenchon on August 3 and 6 on his blog. A judged position “cynical” for Julien Bayou, national secretary of Europe Ecologie-Les Verts and member of the Nupes: “It is not possible, under the pretext of I don’t know what so-called ‘provocation’, to consider that China’s intimidation of Taiwan is acceptable”denounces the secretary of EELV on BFM.
Mélenchon spoke of “provocation” when democratic Ukraine defended itself in Donbass against authoritarian Russia.
And speaks of “provocation” of #Taiwan when… this country acts freely against China.
A democratic country is necessarily a “provocation” for a dictatorship.— Julien Bayou (@julienbayou) August 5, 2022
Faced with the outcry, Jean-Luc Mélenchon defends himself: when he mentions the principle of a single China and Taiwan’s membership of the People’s Republic of China, he maintains that he does not “than to repeat the constant doctrine [de la France] since 1965 about China”formulated by “deGaulle”. Is Jean-Luc Mélenchon telling the truth or fake ?
To understand France’s position, we need to go back for a moment to the history of China. The current crisis is the heir to a civil war that began in the 1920s between two Chinese political movements: the Communist Party, led by Mao Zedong, and the Kuomintang, a nationalist party led by Tchang Kai-shek who then headed the official government of China, the Republic of China. In 1949, after several million deaths, Mao won this fratricidal war and founded the People’s Republic of China with Beijing as its capital. Defeated, the Kuomintang took refuge on the island of Taiwan and moved the government of the Republic of China to Taipei. Two Chinese states are facing each other, knowing that mainland China, led by the Communists, represents the vast majority of the territory and the population. LFrance considered, however, at that time, that the authorities in Taipei remained the legal representative of all of China.
But the situation changed when General de Gaulle undertook to recognize the government of the People’s Republic of China. On January 17, 1964, a press release was published by the Quai d’Orsay and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China. It consecrates the establishment of diplomatic relations between France and communist China. From then on, the framework of French diplomacy on Taiwan was fixed: “It’s called the One China Policy” in whose name “France recognizes the government of the People’s Republic of China as the sole representative of China”, explains Antoine Bondaz, director of the Taiwan Program at the Foundation for Strategic Research (FRS). After the 1964 press release, diplomatic relations with the Republic of China based in Taiwan were severed, on the initiative of the authorities in Taipei. “France is, however, establishing cooperation [non officielles] with Taiwan”, emphasizes Antoine Bondaz.
The 1964 communiqué, however, does not pronounce itself on the question of the territory of Taiwan, which is not even mentioned in the declaration. Because in 1964, “France did not want to break with the Republic of China, but to maintain different relations”, says Jean-Pierre Cabestan, sinologist and emeritus research director at the CNRS.
The problem of Taiwanese sovereignty was not explicitly mentioned until thirty years later, in another Sino-French press release published on January 12, 1994 concerning the “restoration of cooperative relations between France and China”. In this press release, the French government declares that Taiwan is “an integral part of Chinese territory”. It’s about “of a concession by France that goes further than what other countries are doing, conceded following unprecedented pressure from China against the Balladur government after French arms sales to Taiwan”, deciphers Antoine Bondaz. At the end of the 1980s, several arms contracts had indeed been concluded with Taipei, in particular the delivery of frigates and Mirage 2000 military planes, provoking the ire of Beijing.
On first reading, the diplomatic documents thus give reason to Jean-Luc Mélenchon, even if contrary to what he implies on his blog, General de Gaulle never officially declared that Taiwan belonged to China. In practice, however, France’s position is more ambiguous than the leader of La France insoumise declares.
A semantic subtlety first: “France does not explicitly say that Taiwan is part of the People’s Republic of China, there has been no declaration” in this sense, points out Antoine Bondaz. Also “hypocritical” as it may seem, indicates the researcher, in diplomatic language this detail has all its importance. “It allows France to avoid having to decide [entièrement] on questions of sovereignty” and so “not to put ourselves at odds with our allies and partners”, like the United States, which does not officially take a position on Taiwan’s membership. Moreover, with this ambiguity, “we can more easily assume our cooperation” with Taipei, believes Antoine Bondaz.
Then, it appears that diplomatic practices have evolved since 1994: current communications from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs no longer mention Taiwan’s membership of China. “If we continue to say that there is one China, it is not clear what is the status of Taiwan in the People’s Republic of China” explains Jean-Pierre Cabestan. “When Jean-Yves Le Drian, Minister of Foreign Affairs during the previous government, speaks in 2021 during a question to the National Assembly on Taiwan, he is not referring to the 1994 press release, but only to the policy of ‘one China’adds Antoine Bondaz.
Contacted by franceinfo to clarify France’s official position on Taiwan, the Quai d’Orsay refers to a recent statement by Catherine Colonna, Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, at Release (paid item) : “France’s position towards China has not changed since its recognition of the People’s Republic of China in 1964 and therefore France sticks to its one-China policy.” In her most recent intervention on Taiwan, the Minister of Foreign Affairs does not therefore refer to any affiliation of the Taiwanese archipelago to China either.
Other words from Jean-Luc Mélenchon in his blog post were nevertheless able to make his camp wince. When the head of LFI believes that “the Chinese will solve the problem [de la souveraineté de Taïwan] between them (…) he thus leaves open the door of annexation,” deplores Olivier Faure, first secretary of the PS, in the JDD. Sccording to sinologists, Jean-Luc Mélenchon does not take into account crucial interests for France.
Firstly for economic reasons. “We can’t do without Taiwan, three quarters of the microprocessors, those used in your phone, are made there, recalls Emmanuel Lincot, professor at the Catholic Institute of Paris, sinologist and researcher at Iris. The second point is that we also cannot do without the free movement of men and goods in the Taiwan Strait. But if communist China seizes Taiwan, it’s the end of this circulation.”
“There are also democratic values” to defend adds Jean Pierre Cabestan, “common values for which Europe and France have a role to play” says the professor. “Jean-Luc Mélenchon is right when he speaks of a single China and we can criticize the influence of the United States in Taiwan”, concedes Antoine Bondaz. On the other hand, it is problematic, according to him, to “to take up the language of Beijing and to deny the will of the Taiwanese to choose their own future”, concludes the researcher.