France will set up a joint coast guard with South Pacific countries

Paris – French President Emmanuel Macron has announced that he will set up a network of coastguards with the countries in the South Pacific to respond to China, which is looting in the South Pacific. Although a direct mention was avoided, the French president’s announcement is claimed to be against aggressive Chinese maritime moves. France has already prioritised enhancing military assistance with India and Australia to safeguard its interests in the Indo-Pacific region.

France has Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean and French Polynesia and New Caledonia in the Pacific Ocean. The France-Oceania meeting is held for the last five years for the security of these islands. The recent meeting was attended by the French President Macron, representatives from Australia and the Marshall Islands, the head of state of Papua New Guinea and representatives of New Zealand and other Pacific countries. President Macron raised the issue of aggression in the South Pacific.

President Macron said, ‘In the last few years, we have all been victims of looting in the name of fishing. The cooperation of South Pacific countries is needed against this, and we will soon build a network of coast guard of countries in the region.’ The French president said the cooperation would be based on exchanging information and military alliance in the South Pacific.

At the meeting, President Macron refrained from mentioning China openly. But the advisers to the French president said the cooperation was to curb illegal fishing by some countries. Over the past few years, Chinese plundering has become a headache for all countries in the Indo-Pacific region.

Apart from fishing in its marine region, Chinese fishing boats had initially started fishing by infiltrating the ‘South China Sea‘ area. For this, Chinese fishing boats and militia flotillas had entered the marine limits of the Philippines, Vietnam and Indonesia. Two hundred and fifty ships were anchored at the same time in the Filipino oceanic region. Last year, Chinese fishing boats pounded the Indian Ocean as well as borders in Australia and Argentina in Latin America. Just last week, it was reported that Pakistan had seized five Chinese fishing vessels.