French President Emmanuel Macron: ‘EU shouldn’t follow US or China on Taiwan’

PARIS: French President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday called for the European Union to implement its stated policy of “strategic autonomy” and argued the bloc could become a “third pole” alongside China and the US and reiterated that the EU shouldn’t follow US or China on Taiwan, reported DW News.

Reiterating his calls for the EU to maintain an independent foreign policy in an interview for French business daily Les Echo, Macron said, “We don’t want to get into a bloc versus bloc logic,” arguing that Europe “should not be caught up in a disordering of the world and crises that aren’t ours.” The remarks follow a visit to China by Macron and other EU officials which included a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Among other issues, the leaders discussed tensions around Taiwan and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Macron stressed that an escalation in Taiwan was not in the EU’s interest.

“The question asked of us Europeans is the following: is it in our interest for there to be acceleration on the topic of Taiwan? No. The worst thing we Europeans could do would be to be followers on this topic and to adapt to the American rhythm and a Chinese overreaction. Why should we go at a rhythm chosen by someone else?”

Meanwhile, Beijing performed “simulated coordinated precision strikes on important targets in Taiwan” on the second day of the drills, adding to the ongoing tense situation between Taiwan and China, Al Jazeera reported on Sunday.

The drills kickstarted on Saturday (April 8) right after Taiwan President Tsai Ing-Wen returned from the US where she met House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, a meeting to which China strictly showed opposition to.

Refering to the EU maintaining an independent foreign policy line, Macron stressed what he considered to be the need for the EU to develop “strategic autonomy,” reported DW News.

“Europe hadn’t built this strategic autonomy for a long time,” he said. But “now the ideological battle has been won. Five years ago, strategic autonomy was a pipe dream. Now everyone is talking about it,” he said.

Macron said that the EU’s member states should avoid becoming “vassals” and that the bloc could function as a “third pole” in geopolitics alongside the US and China. He warned against following American foreign policy as a “panic reflex,” reported DW News.

Macron also called for increased military spending, saying: “History is speeding up, the European war economy needs to be sped up in parallel.”

“Europe’s defense industry does not meet all our needs and remains very fragmented,” he said, arguing that this causes the EU to rely on American and Asian suppliers, reported DW News. (ANI)

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