French President Emmanuel Macron said yesterday that Europe should reduce its dependence on the United States and avoid being led into a confrontation between China and the United States over Taiwan. Macron stressed, after talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing that lasted for 6 hours, what he called "strategic autonomy" for Europe, led by France, for the European continent to become the "third great power". He explained – in an interview published by Politico, in its European version yesterday, on board his presidential plane on his way back from Beijing – that the "greatest danger" that Europe faces is that it will be led into crises that do not concern it, which prevents it from building its strategic autonomy. Macron's theory of strategic autonomy impressed the Chinese president and his senior government officials. Politico reported that Chinese Communist Party leaders and ideologues have become convinced that the West is waning, that China is on the rise, and that a weakening of the transatlantic relationship will help accelerate that rise. “It is paradoxical that we are under the weight of the panic that grips us,” Macron said. We think we are just followers of America. And he added, “The question that the Europeans have to answer is: Is it in our interest to accelerate the crisis in Taiwan? no. The worst thing is to think that we Europeans should become America's followers in this matter, and take the American agenda and China's excessive reaction. "The Europeans cannot solve the crisis in Ukraine, so what do we say about Taiwan?" Macron said. The French president maintained that Europe was overly dependent on America in terms of weapons and energy, and it (Europe) should focus on strengthening European defense industries. He noted that Europe should also reduce its dependence on the "power" of the US dollar. He said, "If the tension between the two superpowers worsens, we will have neither the time nor the resources to finance our autonomy, and we will become vassals." Macron expressed his belief that he had won the ideological battle for European autonomy. Politico reported that the Elysee Palace insisted on reviewing the interview and correcting the linguistic content of Macron's answers. He stressed that every word in the interview is exactly what the French President said. But he also pointed out that the Elysee Palace deleted some of Macron's statements related to Taiwan and the strategic autonomy of the European continent.
Okaz (London) @OKAZ_online