France’s Indo-Pacific strategy: inclusive and principled
France’s recently launched Indo-Pacific strategy has attracted many critical and sarcastic comments.
Some Western analysts picture France’s move as a desperate (and vain) attempt to regain its past grandeur and most of them consider the strategy doomed to fail, while Chinese commentators criticise France for following in US footsteps to contain China’s rise.
France’s interest in what is now called the ‘Indo-Pacific’ region is nothing new. In 2008, the French White Paper on Defense and National Security pointed out that France should look beyond West Africa to the entire Indian Ocean and East Asia region. Five years later, the following edition emphasised again that the Indian Ocean, as the passageway between Europe and Asia, is becoming increasingly prominent and that France should seize opportunities that may emerge in this region.
France is a resident Indo-Pacific power. With territories in both oceans, France has 1.6 million citizens and many businesses in the region. Over 90 per cent of France’s Exclusive Economic Zone — also the world’s largest — is located in the Indian or Pacific oceans. French interests in this part of the world are significant.
The notion of the ‘Indo-Pacific’, however, is a new one. It was first championed by the French Navy and has now also been adopted in French diplomacy. French President Emmanuel Macron made a speech at Garden Island in Australia in May 2018 in which he referred very explicitly to an Indo-Pacific strategy. He then described his regional ambition in Asia in a speech to French ambassadors in late August 2018. More than a mere change in terminology, this reflects a new and more comprehensive vision of the Indo-Pacific.
What triggered the change in terminology and gave renewed momentum to France’s interest in the Indo-Pacific region is undoubtedly the rise of China and its increasing assertiveness which is perceived by many as a threat to multilateralism and the international rules-based order.
At the 2019 Shangri-La Dialogue, French Minister of Defense Florence Parly delivered the new version of the French defence policy in the Indo-Pacific, stressing the need to develop useful links and joint actions for shared security. It is with this objective in mind that the French Navy exercises its freedom of navigation through transit in the South China Sea.
In the defence sphere, the French strategy is based on strategic partnerships and arms agreements with countries such as India, Australia, Japan, Malaysia and Singapore. The objective is both to defend French territories and a rules-based order.
The Indo-Pacific strategy is not exclusively a military one. A companion document to the defence paper, issued by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, further describes the Indo-Pacific as a crucial region. It is the centre of global economic activities and of most trading routes, but it is also significant in terms of climate change and biodiversity because of its economic and demographic weight and its wealth of natural resources, including energy.
France’s priority is a stable, multipolar order based on the rule of law, the free movement of people and goods and fair and efficient multilateralism. The Indo-Pacific region is at the heart of this strategy. The objective of its Indo-Pacific strategy is manifold, protecting first the country’s interests in the region, but also global common goods and values through cooperation with like-minded countries.
The full article is available online on the East Asia Forum website.
Available in:
Regions and themes
Share
Related centers and programs
Discover our other research centers and programs
Center for Asian Studies
Asia is a nerve center for multiple global economic, political and security challenges. The Center for Asian Studies provides documented expertise and a platform for discussion on Asian issues to accompany decision makers and explain and contextualize developments in the region for the sake of a larger public dialogue.
The Center's research is organized along two major axes: relations between Asia's major powers and the rest of the world; and internal economic and social dynamics of Asian countries. The Center's research focuses primarily on China, Japan, India, Taiwan and the Indo-Pacific, but also covers Southeast Asia, the Korean peninsula and the Pacific Islands.
The Centre for Asian Studies maintains close institutional links with counterpart research institutes in Europe and Asia, and its researchers regularly carry out fieldwork in the region.
The Center organizes closed-door roundtables, expert-level seminars and a number of public events, including an Annual Conference, that welcome experts from Asia, Europe and the United States. The work of Center’s researchers, as well as that of their partners, is regularly published in the Center’s electronic journal Asie.Visions.
Find out more
Discover all our analyses
Taiwan’s Rising Space Program: Building Up Industry, Supporting National Security
Taiwan, known for its leadership in semiconductors and information and communications technology (ICT), is now making significant strides in the space industry. While historically modest, Taiwan’s space program has seen a transformation since 2020, driven by President Tsai Ing-wen’s commitment to expanding the country’s space capabilities. Key milestones include the passage of the Space Development Act and the creation of the Taiwan Space Agency (TASA), which has bolstered the resources and visibility of Taiwan’s space ambitions.
AI and Technical Standardization in China and the EU: Diverging priorities and the need for common ground
Given the highly disruptive potential of AI, global cooperation on AI safety and governance is imperative, and yet the deeply transformational potential of AI also ensures that a high level of competition and systemic rivalry is likely unavoidable. How can the EU best manage its complex relationship with China in the field of AI so as to ensure a necessary level of cooperation in spite of competition and rivalry?
China’s Quest for a Quantum Leap
The global race to harness quantum science is intensifying. Recognizing the strategic potential of quantum technology for economic, military, and scientific advancement, China is focusing on quantum breakthroughs as a way to shift the balance of power, especially in its competition with the United States. President Xi Jinping has emphasized the importance of scientific innovation, particularly in quantum fields, to fuel national development and ensure security.
Taiwan's Energy Supply: The Achilles Heel of National Security
Making Taiwan a “dead island” through “a blockade” and “disruption of energy supplies” leading to an “economic collapse.” This is how Colonel Zhang Chi of the People’s Liberation Army and professor at the National Defense University in Beijing described the objective of the Chinese military exercises in May 2024, following the inauguration of Taiwan’s new president, Lai Ching-te. Similar to the exercises that took place after Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taipei in August 2022, China designated exercise zones facing Taiwan’s main ports, effectively simulating a military embargo on Taiwan. These maneuvers illustrate Beijing’s growing pressure on the island, which it aims to conquer, and push Taiwan to question its resilience capacity.