Macron caught in crossfire over pro-Chinese statements

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In an interview with the American daily Politico, French President Emmanuel Macron (45) was extremely friendly towards China. According to Macron, Europe must resist pressure to follow the US. “The paradox would be that we would panic because we were just followers of America,” Macron said after his three-day state visit to Beijing with Chinese President Xi Jinping, 69.

The statements by the French head of state referred in particular to the conflict between Taiwan and China. “Is it in our interest to accelerate a crisis in Taiwan? No. The worst would be to think that we Europeans should become followers of this issue and be led by the American agenda and a Chinese overreaction.”

Europe as a third superpower?

As “Politico” writes, referring to French officials, Macron and Xi are said to have spoken “intensely” about Taiwan. In doing so, Macron seemed to be taking a much more conciliatory stance than the US or even the European Union – although China has made no secret of its desire to conquer Taiwan sooner or later.

According to Macron, there is a great danger for Europe to be “embroiled in crises that are not its own”. Instead, Europe should focus on its “strategic autonomy” and try to become the “third superpower”. Macron’s concept was well received by Xi and the Chinese Communist Party.

Criticism is pouring in in Germany

In the West, on the other hand, the French president’s statements were met with fierce criticism. German CDU foreign politician Norbert Röttgen (57) accused the French president of dividing and weakening Europe with “such naive and dangerous rhetoric”. “Macron seems to have been let down by all good cheer,” Röttgen told “Bild”.

FDP Secretary General Bijan Djir-Sarai (46) also complained in the newspaper that Macron’s attitude was not a smart strategy for Europe. SPD politician Metin Hakverdi (53) also criticized the French president in the “Tagesspiegel”: “It is a serious mistake to let the West split in its dealings with Beijing.”

As soon as Macron left China, Beijing began its three-day military exercise around Taiwan. That was the country’s reaction to the visit of Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-Wen (66) to Republican Speaker of the US House of Representatives Kevin McCarthy (58) in California.

The communist leadership in Beijing considers the democratically governed island of Taiwan part of the People’s Republic and is trying to isolate its 23 million inhabitants politically. Beijing also regularly threatens to conquer Taiwan by military means if necessary. (dzc/SDA)

Source: Blick