French President Urges Europe to Reduce Dependency on US
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – French President Emmanuel Macron, during his three-day state visit to China, emphasized the need for Europe to reduce its dependency on the United States and avoid being dragged into the US-China conflict over Taiwan.
Speaking with POLITICO and two French journalists after spending around six hours with Chinese President Xi Jinping during his trip, Macron emphasized his pet theory of “strategic autonomy” for Europe, presumably led by France, to become a “third superpower.”
He stated that Europe's "great risk" is getting caught up in crises that are not its own, which hinders it from building its strategic autonomy.
The Chinese president and the Chinese Communist Party have endorsed Macron's concept of strategic autonomy, and Chinese officials constantly refer to it in their dealings with European countries.
Macron warned against Europe's panic, saying, "The worse thing would be to think that we Europeans must become followers on this topic and take our cue from the US agenda and a Chinese overreaction."
Macron and Xi discussed Taiwan “intensely,” according to French officials accompanying the president, who appears to have taken a more conciliatory approach than the US or even the European Union.
“Stability in the Taiwan Strait is of paramount importance,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who accompanied Macron for part of his visit, said she told Xi during their meeting in Beijing last Thursday. “The threat (of) the use of force to change the status quo is unacceptable.”
Xi responded by saying anyone who thought they could influence Beijing on Taiwan was deluded.
Macron appears to agree with that assessment.
“Europeans cannot resolve the crisis in Ukraine; how can we credibly say on Taiwan, ‘watch out, if you do something wrong we will be there’? If you really want to increase tensions that’s the way to do it,” he said.
“Europe is more willing to accept a world in which China becomes a regional hegemon,” said Yanmei Xie, a geopolitics analyst at Gavekal Dragonomics. “Some of its leaders even believe such a world order may be more advantageous to Europe.”
Macron also argued that Europe had increased its dependency on the US for weapons and energy and must now focus on boosting European defense industries.
He also suggested Europe should reduce its dependence on the “extraterritoriality of the US dollar,” a key policy objective of both Moscow and Beijing.
Russia, China, Iran and other countries have been hit by US sanctions in recent years that are based on denying access to the dominant dollar-denominated global financial system. Some in Europe have complained about “weaponization” of the dollar by Washington, which forces European companies to give up business and cut ties with third countries or face crippling secondary sanctions.