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APHS 2015
ASIA PACIFIC HOMELAND SECURITY 27 - 30 October 2015 Singapore |
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Press Release APHS 2015
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| South-east Asia constitutes a major security challenge for France. | |||
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The French stance towards what is one of today's most promising markets leads us to question its position in this I area. Is it taking advantage of a confirmed legitimacy, does it have credibility with the nations? Does it already have a well established local network? "France has proposed that its liaison officer be present in the new HADR (High Availability Disaster Recovery) centre in the fight against natural disasters to see if the centre works and if a full-time person is needed.
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 Nepalese and French teams rescue Rishi Khanal from a damaged building after the earthquake in Nepal |
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France can make a useful contribution in the management of natural disasters, given its expertise and its advanced technology in satellite imaging, useful for prevention, as well as reaction. It is credible in this role. CNES (Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales) already provides maps of disaster areas produced from French satellite images in order to help organise relief.
The space agency's which signed the "International Charter on Space and Major Disasters" in 2000, of which CNES is co-founder alongside the ESA (European Space Agency), have in fact pledged to provide satellite data free of charge and on a voluntary basis, to security officials of dvil authorities in areas affected by all kinds of natural disasters - mainly meteorological, seismic or volcanic - or human - such as massive pollution - in order to most effectively organise relief to the victims and manage the crisis." argue MPs Gwenegan BUI and Jean-Jacques GUILLET in their paper on "Les 6mergents d'Asie du Sud-Est" (The emerging market of South-East Asia). France has interests in the region as a permanent Secunty Council member, but is also directly concerned with the secunty of the region, as a naval power and a traditional US ally contributing to the stability of the region and a potential victim of threats. The French community has probably more than 60,000 people in the area, and another 1.2 million French citaens visit South-East Asia each year for business or tourism.
The 2013 French White Paper on defence and national security notes that Asia's geopolitical balance, nationalist rivalries, prosperity and growth directly concern us and that a major crisis in Asia would have very serious consequences for Europe. As an integral part of world trade, France is particularly dependent on its marine supplies and two thirds of its total container traffic crosses the China Sea If this movement across the China Sea is disturbed or blocked, the consequences would be massive. "Finally, France may be targe led by threats such as terrorism (the control of products exported to Iran and Syria bom Asian ports is still insufficient), smuggling, drug and human trafficking. A few hundred Australian fighters are in Syria (200.000 Syrian-Lebanese live in Australia) and the way we structure our intelligence services is essential" added the two MPs recalling that "within the strategic plan, France has a historically strong presence that it can capitalise on. It is the only European country to have forces throughout the Indo-Pacific region, something that should be better exploited." Read full anlaysis at this link. |
