Macron urges Europe to reduce dependence on US

President Xi Jinping held a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron in Beijing on April 6, 2023. [Photo/Xinhua]

French President Emmanuel Macron has urged Europe to reduce its dependence on the United States and avoid getting caught up in confrontation between the US and China.

Experts said Macron's recent three-day trip to China had contributed to bilateral relations and hopes of a peaceful settlement of the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

In an interview with reporters aboard a French presidential aircraft flying from Beijing to Guangzhou, Guangdong province, Macron stressed the importance of Europe's "strategic autonomy" in order to become a "third superpower".

He said "the great risk" Europe faces is that it "gets caught up in crises that are not ours, which prevents it from building its strategic autonomy", the news website Politico reported on Sunday.

Macron put forward the idea of the European Union's strategic autonomy in September 2017, four months after becoming president.

"The paradox would be that, overcome with panic, we believe we are just America's followers," he said. "The question Europeans need to answer … is it in our interest to accelerate (a crisis) on Taiwan? No."

Tensions across the Taiwan Straits have increased following Taiwan leader Tsai Ing-wen's meeting with US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in California last Wednesday during her recent provocative "transit" trip. In response, China's People's Liberation Army carried out drills from Saturday to Monday, including simulated strikes against key targets on the island of Taiwan and in its surrounding waters.

"Europeans cannot resolve the crisis in Ukraine; how can we credibly say on Taiwan, 'watch out, if you do something wrong we will be there'? If you really want to increase tensions that's the way to do it," Macron said.

He also said Europe had increased its dependence on the US for weapons and energy and must now focus on boosting European defense industries.

He added that Europe should reduce its dependence on the "extraterritoriality of the US dollar".

"If the tensions between two superpowers heat up … we won't have the time nor the resources to finance our strategic autonomy and we will become vassals," Macron said.

Many Europeans have complained about "weaponization" of its reserve currency by the US, which has forced European companies to cut business ties with third countries or face secondary sanctions.

On Sunday night, Macron posted on Twitter a video clip of his three-day visit to China in which he said: "I feel at ease with (President Xi Jinping), including on substance. There is a mutual attraction between France and China, a fascination, a friendship, a singular journey."

Arnaud Bertrand, a French entrepreneur with experience in China and a commentator on geopolitics, said on Twitter on Monday, "All in all it couldn't be clearer now, with this and Macron's earlier communication that he (Xi) sees France as China's foremost ally in the West to counter US-led efforts to contain the country."

Hosuk Lee-Makiyama, director of the Brussels-based European Centre for International Political Economy, said that Macron proved that Europe and China might not necessarily share the same ideal outcome regarding the Russia-Ukraine conflict, but they share the second-best option, a cease-fire that respects the United Nations Charter, adding that some hawks forget that diplomacy is always about pursuing the second-best option.

He said both Europe and China have much to gain from strengthening trade and investment ties, from Airbus planes to renewable energy and infrastructure projects.

Yan Shaohua, an associate professor at Fudan University's Institute of International Studies, said the fact that Macron brought with him a large business delegation, and the signing of a number of commercial deals, show that trade and economic cooperation is still the central pillar of China-Europe relations.

He Zhigao, a researcher at the Institute of European Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said the joint declaration by China and France is rich in content, covering 51 subjects, and is practical and easy to implement.

"There is great motivation for more cooperation and development in Sino-French and Sino-EU relations," he said.