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Taiwan aware of recent French warship Taiwan Strait transit

ROC Central News Agency

04/12/2023 06:38 PM

Taipei, April 12 (CNA) Taiwan's military is aware of the recent Taiwan Strait transit by a French warship, a senior official said Wednesday, after local and international media reported the rare transit by a Naval vessel from the European country.

Without identifying the ship, General Yen Yu-hsien (顏有賢) under the defense ministry's Office of Deputy Chief of the General Staff for Intelligence confirmed a French warship did make a passage through the waterway that separates Taiwan and China from south to north recently.

He did not provide any additional information on the transit, except to say that Taiwan's military was fully aware of the situation.

Yen's remarks partially confirmed the passage made by Prairial, a Floréal-class surveillance frigate of the French Navy, reportedly made from late April 9 to early April 10, according to Taiwan-based Chinese-language online news site RWMedia early Wednesday.

A separate online blog post also reported Prairial's transit last week, though it did not give an exact date, saying only that the passage was made over the Easter weekend.

Prairial transited through the Taiwan Strait to the East China Sea as part of its upcoming participation in the Enforcement Coordination Cell (ECC) mission, according to a Multilanguage blog "MariTimesCrimes," which provides information on maritime crimes and issues, on April 10.

The ECC mission seeks to enforce maritime sanctions defined by United Nations Security Council resolutions (UNSCR) on the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) over its nuclear program, according to the blog post.

The French government has not publicly confirmed the transit.

The French Office in Taipei, the de facto French embassy in Taiwan in the absence of official diplomatic ties, declined to comment on the reports.

United States warships have been making routine, almost monthly passages through the waterway separating Taiwan and China over the past three years, amid rising Sino-U.S. tension to demonstrate its freedom of navigation claim.

However, it is rare for France to do so.

The last time Paris confirmed a warship transit of the Taiwan Strait was in October 2021 by intelligence vessel Dupuy-de-Lôme and before that by side frigate Vendemiaire in April 2019.

(By Joseph Yeh)

Enditem/AW