President Emmanuel Macron was questioned by journalists about his comments regarding Taiwan, which sparked criticism in the United States and Europe. The French president affirmed that his country’s position on Taiwan has not changed and that he is in favor of the current “status quo” regarding the island that China claims as part of his territory.
A tour that started with setbacks. French President Emmanuel Macron had to explain his own comments about China and Taiwan, which raised questions after his visit to Beijing last week. The French president assured that France’s position on the island has not changed.
The controversy began on Sunday when an interview Macron gave to the French newspaper ‘Les Echos’ and ‘Politico Europe’ was published. His words raised questions about whether Macron’s views coincided with the position of the European Union and Washington on Taiwan’s status.
“The question we must answer, as Europeans, is the following: Are we interested in accelerating (a crisis) in Taiwan? No,” Macron said in that interview. “The worst thing would be to think that we Europeans should become followers on this issue and follow the lead of the US agenda and China’s overreaction,” he added.
In a context of growing geopolitical tensions over Taiwan, these statements generated a strong rejection for being considered complacent with China and far removed from the European and American discourse on the governance model that governs Beijing. While in China they celebrated the words of the French president.
“They point to the impasse in the US strategy to persuade Europe to contain China,” the Chinese newspaper ‘Global Times’ reacted in an editorial.
Macron tries to put out the fire
But several European politicians, diplomats and analysts viewed Macron’s comments as “a gift” to what they believe to be Beijing’s goal of dismantling transatlantic unity.
In general, they consider that Macron maintains a weak position regarding Taiwan by warning that Europe should not be “caught in crises” that are not “own” of the old continent. However, his office insisted that this was not his intention and that his position on Taiwan and China is set in stone.
“Now it’s very much about damage control… But the cloud of Macron’s visit is very big and it’s still not very clear how this balance will play out in the end,” said Alicja Bachulska, a researcher on China-EU relations at the European Council on Foreign Relations in Warsaw, to Reuters.
Also another fact that has been questioned about his visit to Beijing was that Macron did not mention Taiwan in his public statement to the press at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing last week.
But this Wednesday, in the Netherlands, Macron came out to rearrange his words.
“The position of France and the Europeans on Taiwan is the same. We are in favor of the status quo, and this policy is constant,” Macron told reporters in Amsterdam.
“It has not changed. It is the one-China policy and the peaceful resolution of the issue,” he added.
The French leader assured that he shares the position of an “open Indo-Pacific region” with the president of the United States, Joe Biden, although each had their own approach to China. “I can tell you that he wants to avoid any escalation despite the current tension,” Macron reiterated.
Also on Tuesday, Macron qualified his comments on Sunday by telling his European neighbors: “If you lose sovereignty, or if you agree to depend on other powers, you will no longer decide for yourself.”
“This does not mean that we are going to walk away from our allies, but that we will choose our allies and partners. Instead of being testimonials, we must be what we decide,” he added.
A visit under the shadow of the pension reform
Macron traveled with his wife, Brigitte Macron, on the first state visit by a French president to the Netherlands in 23 years. The French president and the Dutch prime minister, Mark Rutte, praised the “success” of the visit and the cooperation between France and the Netherlands towards a better “strategic autonomy”.
Rutte urged working towards a “strong” and “resilient” European Union that can “speak with one voice” on geopolitical issues and reduce its reliance on energy issues.
Macron was rebuked by a couple of protesters during his speech in The Hague, with shouts of “where is French democracy?”, and a banner that accused him of “president of violence and hypocrisy”.
Then, upon his arrival at the university in Amsterdam, a man chanting “On est là” (in Spanish, “here we are”) — a phrase often heard at protests in France — tried to run up to Macron, but was reduced by security personnel.
The claims stem from Macron’s controversial pension reform, which seeks to increase the minimum retirement age from 62 to 64 and that has generated weeks of protests against him.
“I am sure that we have our responsibility to make decisions in the interest of our people today and tomorrow. How do you want me to advocate increasing Europe’s strategic autonomy, or convince the Netherlands, or Germany and others, to issue common debts during the pandemic crisis if I don’t reform France and stay with the public finances situation we had six years ago?” Macron warned.
But the reform is now in the hands of the French Constitutional Council, the body that interprets the Magna Carta, which must validate or not the reform law after its approval on March 16 without the vote of Parliament, after the Government made use of of the controversial article 49.3.
With AP and Reuters
