French President Emmanuel Macron believes Europe should not be a ‘follower’ of the US or China amid tensions between the two superpowers over Taiwan’s stance. He says this in a conversation with French business magazine Les Echos. He also stressed that the EU risks getting caught up in “crises that are not ours”.
China views democratic Taiwan as part of its territory and has vowed to one day seize it by force or otherwise. Last week, Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen met with US House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy in California. Infuriated, Beijing immediately conducted military exercises around the island.
Strategic autonomy
“The worst thing is that we Europeans are followers and have to adapt to an American rhythm or a Chinese overreaction,” Macron said on Friday, returning from a three-day state visit to China. He emphasized the importance of the EU’s ‘strategic autonomy’: ‘Relations with Ukraine, China or sanctions, we have a European strategy.’ And: ‘We don’t want to end up with block-to-block logic.’
Also Read | ‘The situation in Taiwan will definitely escalate’
Europe’s emergence as an independent actor has been Macron’s goal for years, exemplified by French President Charles de Gaulle (1959–1969), who saw France as a balancing force between the two superpowers of his time, the United States and the United States. Soviet Union.
Macron will be in the Netherlands with his wife Brigitte on Tuesday and Wednesday. They will meet King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima and Prime Minister Mark Rutte.
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