Emmanuel Macron left his visit to China with an interview that has everything to annoy Washington and put some allies on the heels, rejecting a “bloc-to-bloc” logic and stating that if competition between Chinese and Americans accelerates, the Europeans are at risk of becoming American “vassals”.
In an interview given to Les Echos and Politico while traveling aboard the presidential plane between Beijing and Guangzhou, Macron again defended his idea of ”strategic autonomy” with regard to the United States, even though he hinted that the Taiwan issue is not a matter that concerns Europeans, at least that’s a priority.
The pitfall for Europe would be that, once it gains clarity about its strategic position, it will be more strategically autonomous than before the [pandemia de] covid, is caught up in a world breakdown and in crises that are not ours. If there is an acceleration of the duopoly, we will not have the time or resources to fund our strategic autonomy and we will become vassals, while if we have a few years to build it, we can be the third pole he defended.
“Strategic autonomy means assuming we have convergent views with the United States, but whether it’s Ukraine, the relationship with China or sanctions, we have a European strategy. We don’t want to engage in bloc-to-bloc logic.” “, he said. The concept of strategic autonomy is welcomed by Beijing, as it opens a possible hole in the Atlantic Ocean, which would accelerate the decline of the West.
In the interview, the French leader also criticized the US sanctions policy, as he opposed the “extraterritoriality of the dollar”. China, but also Russia and Iran fully agreed with this, but also some European companies that in practice lose access to these markets due to sanctions.
The French head of state, who met Xi Jinping several times during his visit to China and led a delegation of businessmen, gave a subdued speech, after leaving it to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who was also received by the Chinese leader, the harshest words either about the position of the war in Ukraine or about Taiwan.
“The question for us Europeans is, do we have an interest in advancing the Taiwan issue? No. The worst would be to think that we Europeans should be followers on this issue and adapt to the US rhythm and to an excessive Chinese reaction”, later to confirm: “We Europeans need to wake up. Our priority is not to conform to the agenda of others in every region of the world.”
According to Politico, citing a source who was present at the trilateral meeting with Macron and von der Leyen, Xi Jinping was “visibly upset at being held responsible for the conflict in Ukraine and downplayed his recent visit to Moscow”.
The annoyance turned to anger when the subject was the United States and Taiwan, especially President Tsai Ing-wen’s visit to the United States, and also the fact that foreign policy issues were being raised by Europeans. Beijing views Taiwan as a province in its own right and strives for unification, if only by force.
Hours after the French president left the Asian giant, the Chinese army announced “combat preparation” military maneuvers in the Strait of Formosa. On the second day, the Taipei military detected 11 warships and 70 aircraft belonging to Beijing’s forces around it, with China simulating “joint precision strikes” against “key targets on the island of Taiwan and surrounding waters.”
Source: DN
