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ABOARD COTAM UNITÉ (FRANCE’S AIR FORCE ONE) — Europe should cut back its dependency on the US and keep away from getting dragged right into a confrontation between China and the U.S. over Taiwan, French President Emmanuel Macron stated in an interview on his airplane again from a three-day state go to to China.
Talking with POLITICO and two French journalists after spending round six hours with Chinese language President Xi Jinping throughout his journey, Macron emphasised his pet concept of “strategic autonomy” for Europe, presumably led by France, to turn into a “third superpower.”
He stated “the good danger” Europe faces is that it “will get caught up in crises that aren’t ours, which prevents it from constructing its strategic autonomy,” whereas flying from Beijing to Guangzhou, in southern China, aboard COTAM Unité, France’s Air Pressure One.
Xi Jinping and the Chinese language Communist Occasion have enthusiastically endorsed Macron’s idea of strategic autonomy and Chinese language officers continually seek advice from it of their dealings with European international locations. Occasion leaders and theorists in Beijing are satisfied the West is in decline and China is on the ascendant and that weakening the transatlantic relationship will assist speed up this development.
“The paradox can be that, overcome with panic, we imagine we’re simply America’s followers,” Macron stated within the interview. “The query Europeans must reply … is it in our curiosity to speed up [a crisis] on Taiwan? No. The more serious factor can be to assume that we Europeans should turn into followers on this subject and take our cue from the U.S. agenda and a Chinese language overreaction,” he stated.
Simply hours after his flight left Guangzhou headed again to Paris, China launched giant army workouts across the self-ruled island of Taiwan, which China claims as its territory however the U.S. has promised to arm and defend.
These workouts have been a response to Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-Wen’s 10-day diplomatic tour of Central American international locations that included a gathering with Republican U.S. Home Speaker Kevin McCarthy whereas she transited in California. Folks conversant in Macron’s pondering stated he was comfortable Beijing had at the least waited till he was out of Chinese language airspace earlier than launching the simulated “Taiwan encirclement” train.
Beijing has repeatedly threatened to invade lately and has a coverage of isolating the democratic island by forcing different international locations to acknowledge it as a part of “one China.”
Taiwan talks
Macron and Xi mentioned Taiwan “intensely,” in line with French officers accompanying the president, who seems to have taken a extra conciliatory method than the U.S. and even the European Union.
“Stability within the Taiwan Strait is of paramount significance,” European Fee President Ursula von der Leyen, who accompanied Macron for a part of his go to, stated she advised Xi throughout their assembly in Beijing final Thursday. “The menace [of] the usage of power to alter the established order is unacceptable.”
Xi responded by saying anybody who thought they may affect Beijing on Taiwan was deluded.
Macron seems to agree with that evaluation.
“Europeans can’t resolve the disaster in Ukraine; how can we credibly say on Taiwan, ‘be careful, for those who do one thing unsuitable we shall be there’? For those who actually need to enhance tensions that’s the best way to do it,” he stated.
“Europe is extra keen to just accept a world during which China turns into a regional hegemon,” stated Yanmei Xie, a geopolitics analyst at Gavekal Dragonomics. “A few of its leaders even imagine such a world order could also be extra advantageous to Europe.”
In his trilateral assembly with Macron and von der Leyen final Thursday in Beijing, Xi Jinping went off script on solely two subjects — Ukraine and Taiwan — in line with somebody who was current within the room.
“Xi was visibly irritated for being held liable for the Ukraine battle and he downplayed his current go to to Moscow,” this individual stated. “He was clearly enraged by the U.S. and really upset over Taiwan, by the Taiwanese president’s transit by means of the U.S. and [the fact that] international coverage points have been being raised by Europeans.”
On this assembly, Macron and von der Leyen took related traces on Taiwan, this individual stated. However Macron subsequently spent greater than 4 hours with the Chinese language chief, a lot of it with solely translators current, and his tone was way more conciliatory than von der Leyen’s when talking with journalists.
‘Vassals’ warning
Macron additionally argued that Europe had elevated its dependency on the U.S. for weapons and power and should now give attention to boosting European protection industries.
He additionally urged Europe ought to cut back its dependence on the “extraterritoriality of the U.S. greenback,” a key coverage goal of each Moscow and Beijing.
“If the tensions between the 2 superpowers warmth up … we received’t have the time nor the sources to finance our strategic autonomy and we’ll turn into vassals,” he stated.
Russia, China, Iran and different international locations have been hit by U.S. sanctions lately which might be based mostly on denying entry to the dominant dollar-denominated international monetary system. Some in Europe have complained about “weaponization” of the greenback by Washington, which forces European firms to surrender enterprise and lower ties with third international locations or face crippling secondary sanctions.
Whereas sitting within the stateroom of his A330 plane in a hoodie with the phrases “French Tech” emblazoned on the chest, Macron claimed to have already “received the ideological battle on strategic autonomy” for Europe.
He didn’t deal with the query of ongoing U.S. safety ensures for the Continent, which depends closely on American protection help amid the primary main land battle in Europe since World Struggle II.
As one of many 5 everlasting members of the U.N. Safety Council and the one nuclear energy within the EU, France is in a singular place militarily. Nevertheless, the nation has contributed far much less to the protection of Ukraine towards Russia’s invasion than many different international locations.
As is widespread in France and plenty of different European international locations, the French President’s workplace, often called the Elysée Palace, insisted on checking and “proofreading” all of the president’s quotes to be printed on this article as a situation of granting the interview. This violates POLITICO’s editorial requirements and coverage, however we agreed to the phrases with the intention to communicate straight with the French president. POLITICO insisted that it can’t deceive its readers and wouldn’t publish something the president didn’t say. The quotes on this article have been all truly stated by the president, however some components of the interview during which the president spoke much more frankly about Taiwan and Europe’s strategic autonomy have been lower out by the Elysée.
