EMMANUEL Macron is seeking to position France as an alternate power to both China and therefore the US within the South China Sea, because the "unprecedented" military build up within the region continues.

France has stepped up its military presence within the Indo-Pacific over the previous couple of weeks. 

In early February, the French navy ordered its nuclear submarine Émeraude to the region and has recently deployed more vessels. The amphibious operation ship, the Tonnerre, and therefore the frigate Surcouf will breeze through waters claimed by Beijing within the coming days.

Furthermore, France will participate in large-scale joint naval exercises with India, Australia, Japan and therefore the US as a part of its annual Jeanne d'Arc mission.

Collin Koh, a search fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, told the Daily Telegraph that Mr Macron was trying to position France as a an alternate power to both China and therefore the US.

He said: “It’s clear that France wants to posit itself as an alternate country to travel to besides the US and China, with its own narrative of ‘if you're sick and uninterested in all the Sino-US rivalry and who to settle on between China and therefore the US, there's France’.”


The French President has previously spoken of developing a “Paris-Delhi-Canberra axis.”

However, Mr Koh believes that Japan is best positioned to supply itself as a regional alternative to Beijing and Washington.

France's intensification of its military presence within the South China Sea comes as both the United Kingdom and Germany prepare to deploy their navies to the Indo-Pacific later this year.

Discussions about the likelihood of a large-scale conflict have taken place as a results of unprecedented tensions within the region.

Robert Blackwill, a CFR senior fellow for US policy, and history professor, Philip Zelikow said that Taiwan “is becoming the foremost dangerous flashpoint within the world for a possible war that involves the US, China, and doubtless other major powers."

The UK's new carrier strike group will conduct joint drills with Japan, while Germany will send a frigate to Asia in August.


The frigate will become the primary German warship to cross the South China Sea on its way back home since 2002.

Mr Koh described the build-up of Western warships within the region as "unprecedented".

Western leaders are determined to take care of navigation rights within the strategically vital waters over which China contentiously claims sovereignty.

The South China Sea may be a major artery of worldwide trade, also as being rich in energy resources.

Beijing has continued to determine military outposts on artificial islands within the area, because it tries to enforce its territorial claims.