In what has to be one of the most astonishing betrayals of this young century, France has given a green light to mainland China to invade and conquer the tiny island nation of Taiwan:

During a state visit to China, French Premier Raffarin threw support behind a law allowing China to attack Taiwan and continued to push for a lift of the EU arms embargo.

At the outset of a three-day visit to China, French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin said he supported Beijing’s “anti-secession” law on Taiwan, and vowed to keep pushing for an end to an EU arms embargo that could open the door for Paris to sell weapons to the Asian giant.

Raffarin also signed or finalized major business deals with Beijing valued at around $3.2 billion (2.4 billion euros).

The so-called “anti secession law” passed by China last month was widely considered by analysts to be an indication that the Chicoms were finally ready to get serious about solving their “Taiwain problem.”

This scenario is eerily reminiscent of the shameful betrayal of Czechoslovakia by England and France in 1938. Under another weasely Prime Minister, Edouard Daladier, the French helped Adolph Hitler solve his “Czech problem” by allowing the Nazi brute to occupy the Sudetenland in direct violation of solemn agreements signed with the Czechoslovakian state to guarantee its territorial integrity. At a conference in Munich attended by England, France, Germany, and Italy, Nazi Foreign Minister Johann Ribbentropp mercilessly browbeat, cajoled, and threatened both England and France if they didn’t allow the immedate occupation of Czech territory. (A representative of the Czech government was not allowed to attend the conference. He was forced to wait in another room as the fate of his tiny nation was decided by others.)

Captured documents after the war show the true duplicity of the French who were more concerned with mollifying any domestic critics than in living up to its obligations under its mutual defense pact with the Czechs. The resulting occupation by Hitler of the entire country of Czechoslovakia proved strategically disasterous for France as it took the tough, well-trained Czech army off the board and weakened the western alliance against Hitler when war broke out a year later.

And now, once again, the French are cynically giving the go-ahead for a very large nation to invade a much smaller one.

The reasons for this indefensible action by the Chirac government are twofold; money and more money:

At the same time, he vowed that his government would continue to push for the lifting of what he called the “anachronistic” and “discriminatory” arms embargo against China. The embargo contradicts the current “strategic partnership” between the EU and China, he added.

During his visit to Beijing on Thursday, China Eastern Airlines and Shenzhen Airlines signed a deal with the European consortium Airbus to buy a total of 10 A319/A320 planes. And China Southern completed an agreement on its purchase of five A380 super jumbos.

The deals were signed between the carriers and the European consortium’s vice-president, Philippe Delmas, who is in China accompanying Raffarin on his visit

Clearly the French are eager to resume selling arms to whoever ponies up the francs. And given the large stake the Chirac government has in the European consortium that runs the airplane manufacturer Airbus, it’s not surprising that the French want to get in on the exploding Chinese air travel market.

If the French get their way, when the United States rushes to the defense of Taiwan following a Chicom invasion, we may be fighting against a host of French weapons systems including sophisticated Mirage jet fighters and technologically advanced Exocet anti-ship missiles.

Once again, the French have proven that in their quest to find a “counterweight” to American military power, they’re willing to sacrifice just about anything – including another country – to achieve their strategic goals.

Cross Posted at Blogger News Network

UPDATE:

I see where Wizbang also resurrects the ghost of World War II, referring to another French lickspittle Marshall Petain, who led the collaborationist government during the war.

Daimnation! calls France “The most amoral democracy on earth” and believes they’re cozying up to China partly out of “pure spite.”

This is one of those “grown up countries” Kofi Anan was talking about when the Oil for Food scandal first broke.

And Blogs for Bush weighs in:

So, France is in favor of arming one of the most tyrannical regimes on Earth, and has no problem if China decides that it has to invade Taiwan to prevent the “secession” of an island outside of Chinese rule for 56 years…ok, liberals, tell us again about how we shouldn’t make the French mad because they have a greater wisdom in the world than our cowboy President…

Why is it that France brings out the best rhetoric on the conservative side of the blogosphere?