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France and EU dumps the US to Embrace China

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France and EU have dumped US and have deicded to parner with China.

EU no longer supports the US on China.


Macron says Europe must not be 'follower' of US, China on Taiwan​


Issued on: 09/04/2023 - 15:58
View attachment 925536French President Emmanuel Macron (R) met Chinese leader Xi Jinping during a three-day state visit last week © NG Han Guan / POOL/AFP
2 min
Paris (AFP) – French President Emmanuel Macron said in an interview published Sunday that Europe must not be a "follower" of either the US or China on Taiwan, saying that the bloc risks entanglement in "crises that aren't ours".


His comments risk riling Washington and highlight divisions in the European Union over how to approach China, as the US steps up confrontation with its closest rival and Beijing draws closer to Russia in the wake of its invasion of Ukraine.
"The worst thing would be to think that we Europeans must be followers and adapt ourselves to the American rhythm and a Chinese overreaction," Macron told media including French business daily Les Echos and Politico as he returned Friday from a three-day state visit to Beijing.
Citing his prized ideal of EU "strategic autonomy", the French leader said that "we must be clear where our views overlap with the US, but whether it's about Ukraine, relations to China or sanctions, we have a European strategy."
"We don't want to get into a bloc versus bloc logic," he added, saying Europe "should not be caught up in a disordering of the world and crises that aren't ours".
China views democratic, self-ruled Taiwan as part of its territory and has vowed to take it one day, by force if necessary.
Angered by Taiwanese president Tsai Ing-wen's meeting last week with US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, Beijing launched massive military exercises around the island immediately after Macron departed for France, including simulated strikes on its territory.

'Ambiguity'​

Macron discussed Taiwan with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Friday, during a visit in which he was feted but more hawkish EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen was kept mostly at arm's length.
His Elysee Palace office said the talks had been "dense and frank" and that the French president was concerned about "growing tensions in the region" that could lead to "a terrible accident".
Macron was "simply talking about the risk of Chinese 'overreaction', forgetting China wishes to change the status quo by taking over Taiwan one way or the other," Antoine Bondaz of the Paris-based Foundation for Strategic Research (FRS) commented on Twitter.
"Why this desire never to recall we have an interest in maintaining stability?" he added, warning that "this ambiguity... instils doubt in our like-minded partners".
Taiwan island was just one area that risked "an acceleration of tensions breaking out between the duopoly" of China and the US, Macron said.
If the confrontation escalates too quickly, Europeans "won't have the time or the resources to finance our strategic autonomy and will become vassals, whereas we can build a third pole if we have a few years," he added.
Europe's emergence as an independent geostrategic player has been a goal of Macron's for years, in line with a tradition going back to Fifth Republic founding president Charles de Gaulle who saw France as a balancing power between the Cold War blocs.
© 2023 AFP

 
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No change to French stand on Taiwan, envoy to Hong Kong says in wake of Macron’s comments​


France’s consul general in Hong Kong, Christile Drulhe, said of Macron’s position on Taiwan: “It’s important that people understand well what our president meant and that his position won’t be distorted.”

She said France continued to follow its one-China policy which allowed it to have exchanges with Taiwan. Paris opposes unilateral changes to the status quo between the island and mainland China.

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

LOL! Macron doesn't speak for the EU or NATO or even for the current policy of France.

Can you somehow stop thinking that you can speak for Europe because you have a completely backwards picture of reality.

You just reinforce the bad stereotypes people have of Asians.

The EU is not going to jump into China's lap (like you obviously eagerly have) no matter how hard you try and jerk yourself into wanting to believe it.

Europe presses tough Taiwan stance after backlash against Macron comments​


European foreign policy officials on Friday (14 April) urged China not to use force over Taiwan, taking a tough stance against Beijing’s threats over the democratically governed island, after comments by French President Emmanuel Macron were perceived as weak.

China in recent days has held intense military drills around Taiwan, which it claims as its own, and has never renounced the use of force to bring the island under its control.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, addressing the issue at a press conference in Beijing alongside her Chinese counterpart Qin Gang, said any attempt by China to control Taiwan would be unacceptable and would have serious repercussions for Europe.

EU foreign policy chief Joseph Borrell echoed her remarks in a statement prepared for a speech due to be delivered in Beijing at the Center for China and Globalization think tank on Friday that had to be cancelled after he caught COVID-19.

“A military escalation in the Taiwan Strait, through which … 50% of world trade goes every day, would be a horror scenario for the entire world,” said Baerbock, adding it would have “inevitable repercussions” for European interests.

In interviews published after his trip to China last week, which was meant to showcase European unity on China policy, Macron cautioned against being drawn into a crisis over Taiwan driven by an “American rhythm and a Chinese overreaction”.

While many of the remarks were not new, the timing of their publication, and their bluntness, annoyed many Western officials.

“The European Union’s position (on Taiwan) is consistent and clear,” Borrell said in his remarks. “Any attempt to change the status quo by force would be unacceptable.”

Ukraine issue​

Borrell also said Europe’s future relationship with China depended on it trying to use its influence to find a political solution to the Ukraine crisis.

“It will be extremely difficult, if not impossible, for the European Union to maintain a relationship of trust with China, which I would like to see, if China does not contribute to the search for a political solution based on Russia’s withdrawal from the Ukrainian territory,” Borrell said.

“Neutrality in the face of the violation of international law is not credible,” Borrell said, adding an appeal for Chinese President Xi Jinping to speak to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and for China to provide more humanitarian aid to Ukraine.

Xi has met Russian President Vladimir Putin twice but not spoken with Zelenskyy since Russia invaded Ukraine in what Moscow calls a “special military operation” in February 2022.

China stated its opposition to attacks on civilians and on nuclear facilities in a position paper on Ukraine published in February, but it has refrained from openly criticising Russia.

“President Xi’s visit to Moscow has demonstrated that no other country has a bigger influence on Russia than China,” said Baerbock.

“It is good that China has signalled to get engaged in finding a solution. But I have to say clearly that I wonder why China so far has not asked the aggressor Russia to stop the war. We all know President Putin has the opportunity to do so any time he wants to.”

Poland’s prime minister warned earlier this week that Ukraine’s defeat may embolden China to invade Taiwan.

Baerbock and Borrell also spoke about the risks of being too dependent economically on China, in line with comments made by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in a speech last month on the eve of her China visit.

“We just paid a high price for our energy dependency on Russia, and it is well-known that one should not make the same mistake twice,” said Baerbock, adding that economic security is core to Germany’s strategy for China.

Borrell said that the EU needs to diversify its value chains to reduce its dependency on China for raw materials.

He also said that the increasing trade imbalances between the EU and China are “unsustainable” and called on China to remove market access barriers.


If you want to tag me in the future please do it to show me some forward progress by
pk.GIF


Spending your entire time here being a lapdog and jerking cheerleader for some other country is just plain sad. I can't believe you are tagging me so often about this. Even the Chinese here would never sink to a low of mostly cheering for another country other than their own. They'd consider it a severe loss of face for their people.

You are like a lost sheep desperately looking for attention. If the Chinese here think the EU is turning towards China instead of the EU let them post the articles...desperately jumping around like their personal court jester fool is not something to be proud of.

happy-court-jester-clown-ready-to-march-in-the-parade-mayday-parade-AKHPDH.jpg
 
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