Europe should not be dragged into a confrontation between the United States and China over Taiwan. Such notice Express French President Emmanuel Macron in an interview with Politico.
“The question that Europeans must answer <…> : do we have an interest in accelerating the development of the crisis around Taiwan? No," Macron said. The president also drew attention to his theory of "strategic autonomy", according to which Europe, led by France, should become a "third superpower" along with China and the United States. In addition, the French leader believes that Europe should reduce its dependence on the United States, which is now manifested in armaments and energy, as well as get rid of the "extraterritoriality" of the US dollar and focus on developing its own defense. industry. Like before noted Macron, in an interview with Les Echos, now notes that the European defense industry “does not provide for all needs” and forces the countries of the continent to turn to American and Asian suppliers.
“The paradox is that, panicked, we just follow the American agenda,” he told Politico.
However, according to Macron, in the event of escalation of tensions between the United States and China, Europe “will have neither the time nor the resources to finance our strategic autonomy, and we will become vassals”.
“So how can we be the third pole if we have a few years to build it,” he pointed out.
On April 5, Emmanuel Macron arrived in Beijing, where he met Chinese President Xi Jinping. The French president spent three days in China. During the talks, Macron and Xi Jinping also touched on the topic of Ukraine. By data Politico, the French leader tried to convince the president of the PRC to change Beijing’s position on the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, but without success. Additionally, according to Politico sources, the two leaders discussed Taiwan. Macron’s visit to China took place against the backdrop of tensions around Taiwan, which China considers to be part of its territory: on April 5, Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen visited the United States. In response to Ingwen’s trip, Beijing imposed sanctions on U.S. organizations and officials involved in his visit, and held military exercises near the island nation. US House Committee Chairman Michael McCall, commenting on the exercise, said the US Congress would likely support sending US troops to Taiwan “if China invades”.
