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'Then France announced
in February that it had sent the nuclear attack submarine Emeraude and a support vessel through the South China Sea. French Defence Minister Florence Parly called it “striking proof of the capacity of our French navy to deploy far away and for a long time, together with our Australian, American and Japanese strategic partners”.
This must be considered against the backdrop of French strategic policy. In 2018, Macron called for the creation of a Paris-Delhi-Canberra axis to gain China’s respect. Pierre Vandier, chief of staff of the French navy, said last year: “We want to demonstrate our presence to the region … This is a message aimed at China. This is a message about multilateral partnerships and the freedom of passage.”'
https://www.scmp.com/topics/south-china-sea