The French president, Emmanuel Macron, has surprised this weekend with some statements on the conflict in Taiwan in which he invites Europe to have its own voice on this issue and distance itself from the positions of the US and China. He said it just after his trip to the Asian country last week and in full military maneuvers in Beijing on the island, which he considers part of his territory.
The French president believes that "we must not be a follower" of either the United States or China when it comes to positioning themselves in this conflict. "Worst of all would be to think that we, Europeans, must become followers of the Taiwan issue and adapt to the American rhythm or a Chinese overreaction," Macron said in an interview with the economic daily Les Echos, conducted on Friday just coinciding with his multi-day trip to China, but published on Sunday, when he was already back.
As soon as Macron's plane had taken off from the Asian country, Beijing launched retaliatory military maneuvers, which began on Saturday and ended on Monday, with the deployment of dozens of planes to simulate attacks and the air blockade of the island. Taipei has detected 12 warships and 91 aircraft, according to the Defense Ministry.
One of the two Chinese aircraft carriers, the Shandog, also participated in the deployment. The Taiwanese Foreign Ministry condemned these military exercises and accused Beijing of "undermining peace and stability in the region." China has congratulated itself on the "success" of these war games, which it has dubbed "Joint Sword".
This activity is a warning to Taipei after the Taiwanese president, Tsai Ing-Wen, met in California with the speaker of the US House of Representatives, Kevin McCarthy, which outraged Beijing, which considers the island a province of the country and, therefore, rejects diplomatic contacts between Taiwan and the rest of the countries.
"Our priority is not to adapt to the agenda of others in all regions of the world," Emmanuel Macron said when asked about these military exercises. "Why should we go at the pace chosen by others? At a given moment, we will have to ask ourselves what interests us," he told Les Echos.
The French president and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, had already addressed the issue of Taiwan during their meeting last Thursday in Beijing. It was "a dense and frank conversation", according to the Elysee. Macron believes that Europe has to distance itself from the China-US duopoly." "We will become vassals when we can be the third pole if we have a few years to build it," argued the French president.
"The paradox would be that, at the moment in which we establish the elements for a true European strategic autonomy, we began to follow American policy, out of a kind of panic reflex," according to Macron, who is chaining international visits. This Tuesday begins another to the Netherlands.
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