French President Emmanuel Macron visited China from 5-7 April, receiving a rapturous reception. However, Macron has not enamored himself with the USA and others in Europe with his deference to China.
Even before his arrival, Macron said he wanted to “relaunch a strategic and global partnership with China”. Indeed, Beijing will be rubbing its hands with glee at such a “useful idiot” (referring to a person who is used, often unwittingly, to promote someone else’s cause) beating down the door to get to China. All it took was a rock star welcome and lavish charm.
Macron’s comments to several journalists on his flight home precisely reinforced Xi’s own ambitions, claiming “the great risk” that Europe faces is getting “caught up in crises that are not ours, which prevents it from building its strategic autonomy”. Of course, Chinese state media have excitedly endorsed Macron’s policy of “strategic autonomy”.
Xi would also be pleased as punch over such Macron comments as this: “The paradox would be that, overcome with panic, we believe we are just America’s followers. The question Europeans need to answer…is it in our interest to accelerate [a crisis] on Taiwan? No. The worse thing would be to think that we Europeans must become followers on this topic and take our cue from the US agenda and a Chinese overreaction.”
When the topic of Taiwan came up during meetings, Xi apparently said anyone who thought they could influence Beijing on the matter was deluded. Macron obviously agrees, for he told media: “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.”Sadly, at almost the same time as Macron was crooning about the need for strategic autonomy, China launched a major military exercise against Taiwan in response to President Tsai Ing-wen’s diplomatic tour of Central America, which included meeting US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in California. According to Politico, Macron was allegedly pleased that China waited till he was outside Chinese airspace before launching these drills designed to browbeat Taiwan.
If true, it is outrageous, and incredibly embarrassing, for a democratic leader to fall prostrate in such a manner before a belligerent, warmongering authoritarian state.
One would have thought that France’s own history would have taught that appeasement is not the answer, and that it valued the support of allies in ridding the nation of Nazi occupiers.