International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) The 19
th
IISS Shangri-La Dialogue
As Delivered
19TH REGIONAL SECURITY SUMMIT
THE SHANGRI-LA DIALOGUE
SECOND PLENARY SESSION: MANAGING
GEOPOLITICAL COMPETITION IN A MULTIPOLAR
REGION
SATURDAY 11 JUNE 2022
SÉBASTIEN LECORNU
MINISTER OF THE ARMED FORCES, FRANCE
International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) The 19
th
IISS Shangri-La Dialogue
As Delivered
Dr John Chipman, Director-General and Chief Executive, IISS
Could I please now invite Sébastien Lecornu, the Minister of the Armed Forces of France, to give
what I might style his inaugural address to the Indo-Pacific. Thank you very much, the floor is yours.
Sébastien Lecornu, Minister of the Armed Forces, France
Ladies and gentlemen, Ministers, ladies and gentlemen, dear John, I am very happy to be with you
this morning. Thank you for your words. Thank you for your birthday wishes. I want to thank the
International Institute for Strategic Studies for organising this key forum and I want to thank our
hosts, Singapore, a key stakeholder of the Indo-Pacific and a strategic partner for France. I want to
salute my Indonesian and Japanese colleagues with whom I am delighted to discuss today. This
dialogue platform is more necessary than ever. Our strategic environment is daily more constrained
and polarised and this at a time when we need cooperation and cohesion.
France is a several-times resident nation in the Pacific. This means that our engagement in this vast
region is one of the intangible elements of our sovereignty and of our defence and security policy. To
put it simply, your stakes are also our stakes. This is the obvious reason for my presence here a few
days only after my appointment. And this is also the reason why our presidency of the Council of the
European Union has strongly promoted concrete actions for the benefit of this region. This requires
well-balanced, reciprocal partnerships, marked by trust and covering areas of expertise of the EU
such as maritime security, connectivity, cyber security and of course also as we all know the fight
against disinformation.
First of all, I want to recall a double reality that the Russian aggression against Ukraine brought to
light again: the threats against the security of Europe are threats for the rest of the world. Conversely,
the security threat elsewhere in the world continues to be a priority for Europe. In that respect, the
Indo-Pacific plays a key role to preserve the fragile balances of the world, for global economy and for
the security of the supply chains. The coronavirus pandemic has helped us realise that again, and
preserving these balances is for us especially important
The invasion of Ukraine, however, places a fundamental challenge at the centre of the concerns for
the international order again. I want of course to speak about the use of force in obvious violation of
international laws. This directly threatens the security of all the states which everywhere in the world
build their own security on the basis of the law and the respect of their commitment. We do not want
the illegal use of the force and of the threat to become a new standard, especially when this is
associated with revisionist or expansionist aims.
Beyond this key challenge that we heard in the opening speeches yesterday, we are facing three main
stakes in the geopolitical rivalries in the Asia-Pacific area and I would like to mention them especially.
First of all, competition between powers is increasingly taking various shapes and is getting tougher,
with economic, technological but also military dimensions. The re-emergence of tensions in the China
Sea and the threat they represent for the access to the common areas bears testimony of that. I would
also like to recall our attachment to peace and stability in the Strait of Taiwan, where crisis could have
devastating consequences for all, even beyond the region. Hybrid strategies develop, and they have a
genuine destabilising effect. They make conflictuality even more complex, when we can brutally
switch from competition to dispute or even confrontation, especially using civilian assets to produce
military effects.
International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) The 19
th
IISS Shangri-La Dialogue
As Delivered
Then, the collective response mechanisms are fragilised and the multinational forums are often
questioned, unfortunately. Using multilateralism and fait accompli can especially be seen in the
acceleration of the arms race and in the increased risk of proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
We cannot reconcile ourselves to do that, and as you know this is an old French position.
Finally, this power competition comes along with other security challenges: predation of the
resources, especially fishing or mining ones; consequences of the dramatic climate changes, with
terrible natural disasters; fragility of supply chains, as I have already said. These phenomena, against
which the answer is bound to be collective, first strike the most fragile populations. France is aware,
owing to its overseas territories, of the specificities of island and coastal territories, of the small ones,
[and] will stand by all the countries to face them.
France, ladies and gentlemen, is experiencing very directly the consequences of these tensions as a
nation of the Indo-Pacific since about two million French citizens live in the Réunion Island, Mayotte,
French Polynesia, Wallis and Futuna, and of course New Caledonia. I know these fellow citizens very
well since I have been the Minister for Overseas Territories for two years, as you recalled, a time
during which I have worked on the regional integration of these territories in the interest of our
fellow citizens and that of our partners in the region through existing organisations such as the Pacific
Island Forum and the Pacific Community.
To meet these security stakes we have implemented an unprecedented defence strategy in the Indo-
Pacific, initiated by President Emmanuel Macron in 2018. Regularly adapted to the new challenges
since then, it is aimed, beyond our sovereignty stakes, at defending multilateralism, international
rules, the freedom of access to the common areas, the collective and inclusive approach to the security
challenges including those linked to the environment and the climate. And France is one of the
champions of that. This strategy concretely relies on permanent and significant military assets
deployed in the area. There are, naturally, our French sovereignty forces, constantly present in our
overseas territories in the Indo-Pacific, and our presence forces in Djibouti and in the United Arab
Emirates representing more than 700 soldiers. These capabilities operate in the entire Asia-Pacific area
and have many supporting points that we developed that we will consolidate with our partners in the
region.
In that respect I want to thank my minister colleagues present here today. To give you an example, in
2021 we deployed an attack submarine for many months in that area. The Jeanne D’Arc amphibious
group went as far as Japan. A Rafale-type fighter set-up, taking off from France, was deployed within
a few hours as far as French Polynesia. France thus has an intervention capability over the entire area
and develops the inter-operability of its forces with those of our partners, especially the US ones. It
does so with a constant concern: respecting the sovereignty of each state and developing strong
partnerships with a number of countries I have the pleasure of seeing represented here.
I can assure you that this commitment of the French armed forces will continue tomorrow. For
instance, this year an air-power projection will start from France to carry out a sovereignty mission in
the Pacific. It will be Mission Pégase 22. Our forces will continue to fulfil their various operational
missions and to participate in the major multilateral exercises in the area. They will organise exercises
themselves. They will thus keep a significant presence in the region to show France’s attachment to
the stability of the Asia-Pacific region.
International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) The 19
th
IISS Shangri-La Dialogue
As Delivered
France will continue also to reinforce and modernise our capabilities with the constant deployment by
2025 of six new ocean-patrol vessels in the Indo-Pacific, including two already this year in the Pacific,
one based in New Caledonia and the other in French Polynesia. These patrol ships will carry out
surveillance and sovereignty missions. Along the same line, the five Falcons of the Pacific will be
replaced by five new and more modern aircraft.
This commitment is cooperative by essence, as I said. The French strategy in the Indo-Pacific is not
aimed against any state. It is implemented in full association with the other states in the area. France
participates in the stability of the region by developing partnerships, the objective being to build,
together, more autonomy and more development. These partnerships are not aimed at fuelling
tensions but quite conversely at making sure that each state can contribute to a regional security
architecture. Since we are here in Singapore, I want to salute the old and faithful defence and security
partnership we have forged. And we are going to further strengthen, through the signature today of a
mutual logistics support agreement.
This commitment is responsible and collective by essence and because of our values. As a permanent
member of the United Nations Security Council, France takes its part in the fight against global
threats, proliferation being the first among them. It is involved in the negotiations about the Iranian
nuclear capabilities. It participates in the implementation of the United Nations sanctions against
North Korea.
As president of the Council of the European Union, for a few more days, France gave a concrete
impulse in order for the Union to be a provider of security in the Indo-Pacific, especially regarding
maritime security, with the setting up of the coordinated maritime presence in the Indian Ocean. This
commitment towards the region was confirmed in the European Union’s Strategic Compass, the first
white paper on defence that the Union has just adopted. This was a historic event. The European
Union China Summit, which was held in April, is also an example of the inclusive approach of the
European Union in the Indo-Pacific through a demanding, well-balanced and lucid dialogue.
We persistently support the various security mechanisms promoted by the countries in the region,
from the Indian Ocean to the Pacific. In Southeast Asia, France remains very attached to the central
role of the ASEAN. This is the reason why I would like to say it here again. It would like to join the
ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting–Plus (ADMM+) to provide its expertise in key domains such as
maritime security or peacekeeping.
In the South Pacific, France is totally committed, alongside island countries, be it in the field of
population relief after natural disasters or in that of the fight against illegal, undeclared and
unregulated fishing. We carry this commitment out especially in the framework of the Pacific Quad
and the FRANZ partnership, which are especially efficient and acknowledged.
Faithful to itself and to its multilateral approach respecting the sovereignty of all, France does not
want to join one side or the other. It made the choice of abiding by the law, the only option to ensure
security and peace.
Ladies and gentlemen, I hereby reaffirm, on behalf of the President of the Republic, France’s
conviction. The challenges induced by the geopolitical rivalries in a multipolar region require an
inclusive and multilateral response based first of all on the respect of the law. The problems in the
International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) The 19
th
IISS Shangri-La Dialogue
As Delivered
Indo-Pacific region are also the products of Europe and it goes the other way round as well. We can
work together to solve them. France, whose steadfastness and reliability are known by its partners,
already contributes to that and will resolutely continue to do so. This is the reason why I came here
today to Singapore and I thank you for your attention. Thank you.
Dr John Chipman, Director-General and Chief Executive, IISS
Thank you very much for reminding us that the complexity of modern conflict is also because of the
use of civilian technologies increasingly to have military effect, to remind us that you have rapid
deployment capacity throughout the Pacific Island states and intriguingly also to use this podium to
apply for membership of the ADMM+. We will see how far that goes but meanwhile there is always
the Shangri-La Dialogue to engage with the ADMM+ partners, whether one is a member or not. And
that, I hope, is an enduring value of this large and inclusive forum.