France–Taiwan relations are bilateral relations between

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

(officially the French Republic) and

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

(officially the Republic of China).

History

Qing dynasty

During the Sino-French War in 1884, French warships entered Taiwan seas and disrupted coastal provinces. Meanwhile, the French decided to put pressure on China by landing an expeditionary corps in northern Taiwan to seize Keelung and

Tamsui Tamsui District (Hokkien POJ: ''Tām-chúi''; Hokkien Tâi-lô: ''Tām-tsuí''; Mandarin Pinyin: ''Dànshuǐ'') is a seaside district in New Taipei, Taiwan. It is named after the Tamsui River; the name means "fresh water". The town is popul ...

, redeeming the failure of 6 August and finally winning the 'pledge' they sought. On 1 October Lieutenant-Colonel Bertaux-Levillain landed at Keelung with a force of 1,800 marine infantry, forcing the Chinese to withdraw to strong defensive positions which had been prepared in the surrounding hills. The French force was too small to advance beyond Keelung, and the Pei-tao coal mines remained in Chinese hands. Meanwhile, after an ineffective naval bombardment on 2 October, Admiral Lespès attacked the Chinese defences at Tamsui with 600 sailors from his squadron's landing companies on 8 October, and was decisively repulsed by forces under the command of the Fujianese general

Sun Kaihua Sun Kaihua (died 1893) was a military student of Hunan, who joined Bao Chao's army and fought against the Taiping and Nien rebels, during which time he was wounded. He was rapidly promoted until he became a Brigade General at Zhangzhou in Fujian ...

(孫開華). As a result of this reverse, French control over Formosa was limited merely to the town of Keelung. This achievement fell far short of what had been hoped for.

Japanese colonial rule

During Japanese colonial rule, the

Vichy regime Vichy France (french: Régime de Vichy; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was the fascist French state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II. Officially independent, but with half of its ter ...

opened a consulate in

Taihoku Taihoku Prefecture (台北州; ''Taihoku-shū'') was an administrative division of Taiwan created in 1920, during Japanese rule. The prefecture consisted of modern-day Keelung, New Taipei City, Taipei and Yilan County. Its government office, ...

in February 1942.

Republic of China

Early years

The

French Third Republic The French Third Republic (french: Troisième République, sometimes written as ) was the system of government adopted in France from 4 September 1870, when the Second French Empire collapsed during the Franco-Prussian War, until 10 July 19 ...

recognized the establishment of the Republic of China and established diplomatic relations with the

Beiyang government The Beiyang government (), officially the Republic of China (), sometimes spelled Peiyang Government, refers to the government of the Republic of China which sat in its capital Peking ( Beijing) between 1912 and 1928. It was internationally ...

on 7October 1913. The Institut Franco Chinoise de Lyon (1921—1951) promoted cultural exchanges. During World War II,

Free France Free France (french: France Libre) was a political entity that claimed to be the legitimate government of France following the dissolution of the Third Republic. Led by French general , Free France was established as a government-in-exile ...

and the Nationalist government, who had overthrown the Beiyang and the warlords, fought as allied powers against the

Axis powers The Axis powers, ; it, Potenze dell'Asse ; ja, 枢軸国 ''Sūjikukoku'', group=nb originally called the Rome–Berlin Axis, was a military coalition that initiated World War II and fought against the Allies. Its principal members were ...

of Germany, Italy and Japan. After the

invasion of France France has been invaded on numerous occasions, by foreign powers or rival French governments; there have also been unimplemented invasion plans. * the 1746 War of the Austrian Succession, Austria-Italian forces supported by the British navy attemp ...

in 1940, although the newly formed

Vichy France Vichy France (french: Régime de Vichy; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was the fascist French state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II. Officially independent, but with half of its te ...

was an ally of Germany, it continued to recognize the Kuomintang government of Chiang Kai-shek—which had to flee to Chongqing in the Chinese interior after the

fall Autumn, also known as fall in American English and Canadian English, is one of the four temperate seasons on Earth. Outside the tropics, autumn marks the transition from summer to winter, in September (Northern Hemisphere) or March ( Southe ...

Nanjing Nanjing (; , Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Nanking, is the capital of Jiangsu province of the People's Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city, a megacity, and the second largest city in the East China region. T ...

in 1937—rather than the Japanese-sponsored

Reorganized National Government of China The Wang Jingwei regime or the Wang Ching-wei regime is the common name of the Reorganized National Government of the Republic of China ( zh , t = 中華民國國民政府 , p = Zhōnghuá Mínguó Guómín Zhèngfǔ ), the government of the pup ...

under

Wang Jingwei Wang Jingwei (4 May 1883 – 10 November 1944), born as Wang Zhaoming and widely known by his pen name Jingwei, was a Chinese politician. He was initially a member of the left wing of the Kuomintang, leading a government in Wuhan in oppositi ...

. French diplomats in China remained accredited to the government in Chongqing.

Cold War

After the

Chinese Civil War The Chinese Civil War was fought between the Kuomintang-led government of the Republic of China and forces of the Chinese Communist Party, continuing intermittently since 1 August 1927 until 7 December 1949 with a Communist victory on m ...

and the establishment of the new communist-led

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

(PRC) on 1 October 1949, the

French Fourth Republic The French Fourth Republic (french: Quatrième république française) was the republican government of France from 27 October 1946 to 4 October 1958, governed by the fourth republican constitution. It was in many ways a revival of the Third Re ...

government refused to recognize the PRC after the ROC government retreated to Taiwan. However, by 1964 France and the PRC officially established ambassadorial level diplomatic relations ending relations with the ROC. This was precipitated by Charles de Gaulle's official recognition of the PRC.

Recent history

In 2016, a delegation of French legislators led by Francois de Rugy visited Taiwan. In 2018, China made accusations against France after a French naval vessel transited the

Taiwan Strait The Taiwan Strait is a -wide strait separating the island of Taiwan and continental Asia. The strait is part of the South China Sea and connects to the East China Sea to the north. The narrowest part is wide. The Taiwan Strait is itself a ...

. In December 2020, Taiwan opened its second representative office in France, in Aix-en-Provence. In October 2021, a delegation of French senators visited Taiwan. In November 2021, the French parliament passed a resolution which called on the French government to support Taiwan's participation in international organizations. The Taiwanese government praised the resolution. In December 2021, a delegation of lawmakers from the French National Assembly visited Taiwan.

Military relations

Defense relations between France and Taiwan have been significant with Taiwan acquiring a number of major weapons platforms from France.

Scandals

Taiwan frigate scandal

The Taiwan frigate deal was a huge political scandal, both in Taiwan and France. Eight people involved in the contract died in unusual and possibly suspicious circumstances. Arms dealer Andrew Wang fled Taiwan to the UK after the body of presumptive whistleblower Captain Yin Ching-feng was found floating in the sea. In 2001, Swiss authorities froze accounts held by Andrew Wang and his family in connection to the Taiwan frigate scandal.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:France-Taiwan relations France–Taiwan relations

Bilateral relations of Taiwan