The failure of the joint mission of Emmanuel Macron and Ursula von der Leyen to China does not stop generating replicas. It is not just that Europe’s leaders failed to wrest Xi Jinping no commitment to put pressure on Russia to end the war in Ukraine. But also the united front that the trip was intended to stage crackedbetween the harshness exhibited by the president of the Commission and the more conciliatory position of Macron.
To finish complicating matters, the French president granted upon his return one of those long interviews you are used to to expose his European doctrine, in which he concentrates all his efforts on distance yourself from US policy towards China and Taiwan. Macron’s intervention has unleashed the ire of US Republicans such as Senator marco rubiowhich calls for Washington turn away from the Ukraine as a retaliation against the Europeans.
“We have to find out if Emmanuel Macron speaks for Europe. After their six-hour meetings in China, he told journalists that Europe should distance itself from the United States and should not get involved in supporting America against China when it comes to Taiwan,” Rubio complained in a video posted on his account. Twitter.
[China ignora la petición de Macron y Von der Leyen para que obligue a Putin a salir de Ucrania]
Macron’s thesis is that the European Union should not allow itself to be drawn into Joe Biden’s policy or become a “vassal” of Washington, but instead has to develop its own “strategic autonomy” with the aim of become the world’s third superpowernext to the United States and China.
“As Europeans, our concern is our unity. It has always been my concern. We are showing China that we are united and this is the meaning of this joint visit with the Commission President. The Chinese are also concerned about their unity and Taiwan, from their point of view, is a component of it. It is important to understand how they reason,” argues the French president.
We need to find out if @EmmanuelMacron speaks for Europe
After his 6 hour meeting in China he told reporters that Europe should create distance with the US & should not get involved in supporting America over China when it comes to Taiwanhttps://t.co/xoFmUGkumH pic.twitter.com/Ps718bXSyn
– Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) April 9, 2023
“The question before us Europeans is this: are we interested in speeding up the Taiwan issue? No. The worst thing would be to think that we Europeans should be followers of this issue and adapt to the American rhythm and to a Chinese overreaction (…) Risk is a self-fulfilling strategy of number one and number two on this subject. We Europeans must wake up. Our priority is not to adapt to the agenda of others in all regions of the world,” says Macron.
In his opinion, the greatest risk for Europe would be “getting caught up in a disruption of the world and in a crisis that is not ours.” “If the duopoly conflagration (referring to Washington and Beijing) accelerates, we will have neither the time nor the means to finance our strategic autonomy and we will become vassals, while we can be the third pole if we have a few years to build it“, explained the French president.
Emmanuel Macron, Xi Jinping and Ursula von der Leyen, during their meeting last Thursday in Beijing
Not even the fact that Joe Biden is the most European American president in decades and has based his mandate on strengthening the transatlantic link should divert the EU from its objectives. Is Biden a more educated Donald Trump?they ask him in the interview. “He is attached to democracy, to international logic and knows and appreciates Europe: all of this is essential,” Macron replies.
“On the other hand, it is part of a US transpartisan logic that defends the American interest as the number one priority and China as priority number two. The rest is less important. Is it objectionable? No. But we must take it into account,” defends the French president.
“We do not want to enter into a block-by-block logic. On the contrary, we must reduce risks, not depend on others, maintaining whenever possible a strong integration of our value chains. The paradox would be that, at the moment when we are putting in place the elements of a true European strategic autonomy, we begin to follow American policy out of a kind of panic reflex,” Macron continues.
“On the contrary, the battles that must be fought today consist, on the one hand, of accelerating our strategic autonomy and, on the other hand, of guaranteeing the financing of our economies. I would like to take this opportunity to insist on one point: we should not depend on the extraterritoriality of the dollar“, stressed the French president.
At the interview, Macron implicitly acknowledges the failure of his mission to China and admits that Xi is not going to pressure Vladimir Putin to withdraw his troops from Ukraine, as the Europeans demand. “I think China makes the same observation that we do, namely that today the weather is military. Ukrainians resist and we help them. This is not the time for negotiationsalthough we prepare them and, if necessary, we plant the milestones”, he affirms.
“Is Ukraine a priority for Chinese diplomacy? It may not. But this dialogue allows us to temper the comments we have heard about a kind of complacency on the part of China with regard to Russia,” defends the French president.
