April 9 (Reuters) - French President Emmanuel Macron said in comments published on Sunday that Europe had no interest in an acceleration of the crisis over Taiwan and should pursue a strategy independent of both Washington and Beijing.
Macron has just returned from a three-day state visit to China, where he received a warm welcome from President Xi Jinping. China began drills around Taiwan on Saturday in anger at President Tsai Ing-wen's meeting with the speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Kevin McCarthy on Wednesday.
China views democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory and has never renounced the use of force to bring the island under its control. Taiwan's government strongly objects to China's claims.
Macron said Europe should not accelerate the conflict but take the time to build its position as a third pole between China and the United States in comments to French newspaper Les Echos and Politico made during his visit to China.
"The worst thing would be to think that we Europeans must become followers on this topic and adapt to the American rhythm or a Chinese overreaction," Politico quoted him as saying.
Europe must better fund its defence industry, develop nuclear and renewable energy and reduce dependence on the U.S. dollar to limit its reliance on the United States, both media outlets quoted him as saying.
The joint interview was given on a flight on Friday between Beijing and the city of Guangzhou.
On Friday, an adviser to Macron told reporters in Guangzhou that Xi and Macron had a "dense and frank" discussion on the issue of Taiwan during their meetings.
"The president's feeling is that we should be careful there's no accident or an escalation of tensions (that could lead) to the Chinese going on the offensive," the Elysée adviser said.
Macron travelled to China with a 50-strong business delegation including Airbus and nuclear energy producer EDF, which signed deals during the visit.
Reporting by Layli Foroudi and Michel Rose; editing by Philippa Fletcher
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
greatoctober on April 9th, 2023 at 18:56 UTC »
I would not read this as France adopting a policy of non-intervention regarding Taiwan’s defacto sovereignty. Macron, in essence, said France should not contribute to escalation instigated by either the US, or China.
That said, France has the largest military presence, and stake in the Indo-Pacific more so than any other European country. “7,000 military personnel, alongside 20 vessels and 40 airplanes, are permanently based in the region, organized around five command centers. Their mission is threefold: protecting French sovereignty, intervening for the protection of the population in the event of a crisis, and affirming the French presence in the region, notably to maintain France’s ability to operate autonomously in the global commons and guarantee its free access to the Indo-Pacific.”
Pale-Dot-3868 on April 9th, 2023 at 16:45 UTC »
This idea isn’t even new. He has voiced this idea of European strategic autonomy for a while now. However, the rapid increase of European imports of American arms, a strong American commitment to the war in Ukraine (and the largest), and its indispensable leadership and power regarding Europe’s security architecture has pushed a “third pole” policy back. Europe does need to take the initiative and increase cooperation as America pivots to the Indo-Pacific.
Miketogoz on April 9th, 2023 at 15:57 UTC »
This headline alone is better than the blatant propaganda in r/worldnews. I hope for a more level headed thread instead of the kneejerk reactions and chest thumping behavior.
The actual interview itself hardly says anything new or groundbreaking at all.