Macron sows confusion among his allies with comments on Taiwan

French President Emmanuel Macron drew condemnation from both sides of the Atlantic on Tuesday, calling on the European Union not to be a “follower” of the United States or China on the Taiwan issue.

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The French president, who returned from a trip to China, told the American site Politics and the French Economic Journal Echoes Europe should not align itself with the US or China in the event of a conflict over Taiwan.

“The worst thing is for Europeans to think that we have to be imitators on the Taiwan issue” and “to adapt to the American rhythm and the Chinese overreaction,” Emmanuel Macron said.

Elysee specifically highlighted the need for “sovereign Europe” and “strategic autonomy”. The president’s comments also reflect a desire not to throw oil on the fire in the face of a potential escalation between China and the United States.

Many analysts and politicians in Europe and the United States question the validity of these views, even as Washington ensures Europe’s security by supporting Ukraine politically, militarily, and financially, even as the two leading world powers clash over Taiwan. Europeans.

“#Macron’s policy is leading Europe to a geopolitical impasse,” conservative German MP Norbert Rotgen said on Twitter, not leading to sovereignty, but to isolationism. “Europe must become more independent, not against the US, but in partnership with our Atlantic partners. The world order designed by #Xi is not in Europe’s interest!”

Metin Hakverdi, a German MP from Olaf Scholz’s Social Democratic Party, believes in the Tagesspiegel newspaper that allowing the West to be divided over its position against Beijing is a “serious mistake”. “It weakens the community of Western values.”

In the US, the White House sought to downplay the controversy on Monday, noting that the US has a “great bilateral relationship” with France.

But Republican Senator Marco Rubio released a video saying Washington needs to rethink its own priorities: “If Macron speaks across Europe, their position now is that they’re not going to pick sides between the US and China on Taiwan, maybe we should. They’re not taking sides . . . and (they ) to govern Ukraine”.

“Fiasco”

According to experts, the French president’s comments are “inappropriate”, while Emmanuel Macron has already taken positions that have irritated some of his allies, such as the diagnosis of “brain death” from NATO in 2019 and recently his desire not to “humiliate” Russia. The Russian war in Ukraine ended.

“This is inappropriate and contradictory, because in the event of a crisis in the Taiwan Strait, the interests of France and the European Union will immediately suffer,” said Marc Julien, a researcher at the French institute. International Relations (Ifri). “The question of the Taiwan Strait is precisely our business.”

Antoine Bondaz, at the Foundation for Strategic Research, a Paris-based think tank, says that “in terms of communication, it’s a fiasco” because Emmanuel Macron blames Washington for tensions around Taiwan rather than China.

The expert believes Beijing may have such views that if China invades and takes over Taiwan, France or even Europe will not intervene. “It weakens the barrier.”

“Unique Voice”

In the face of the outcry, Élysée defended the president’s position: Europe “must be able to make its unique voice heard”. French Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire told Europe 1 radio that Emmanuel Macron was “absolutely right to demand European independence and sovereignty from 2017”.

Emmanuel Macron’s former adviser, Stéphane Sejournay, called on France Inter radio not to “caricature” the president’s words, insisting the latter that Europe and France can play “a role of elevation”. “In this context, obviously, our allies are Americans,” he said.

But for Marc Julienne, “the danger is that Macron has damaged or scratched this European unity under construction”.

For James Laurenson, director of the Institute of Australia-China Relations at UTS, quoted by Australian public channel SBS, the French president chose his moment badly but “only stated one reality”: the probability of a confrontation between Beijing and Washington. “This is obviously a view shared by the Australian government.”