French President Emmanuel Macron was in China meeting Xi Jinping and “kissing his ass”, former US president Donald Trump said during an interview with Fox News on Tuesday. In the interview, which was his first mainstream media appearance since being indicted in New York, Trump said, “Macron, who’s a friend of mine, is over with China, kissing his ass. Okay, in China! I said, ‘France is now going to China.'”
After Trump’s interview, American journalist Benny Johnson tweeted, “Trump slams Macron for giving China soft greenlight to invade Taiwan.”
In the interview, the Republican Party’s presumptive presidential nominee said the United States had lost influence in the world since he left office. “You got this crazy world, it’s blowing up and the United States has absolutely no say,” he told Fox News.
Trump’s remark came after Macron’s comments regarding Taiwan. While speaking to the media, Macron had warned European countries against being drawn into a crisis over Taiwan driven by an “American rhythm and a Chinese overreaction”.
In an interview to news portal Politico, Macron said, Europe must resist pressure to become ‘America’s followers.’ The ‘great risk’ Europe faces is getting ‘caught up in crises that are not ours,’ French president said in the interview.
The French President also called for the European Union to reduce its dependence on the US and to become a “third pole” in world affairs along with Washington and Beijing. In remarks to journalists Macron said European countries should not get caught in the tense standoff between Beijing and Washington over the fate of Taiwan.
Speaking on the China-Taiwan relations, Macron said, “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.”
French president’s comments have divided the European nations with some backing him and others advocating strong relations with the US. A senior diplomat from Central and Eastern Europe, speaking on condition of anonymity told the Reuters, “President Macron is not speaking for Europe or the European Union. He is unwittingly helping Beijing to dismantle transatlantic unity at the time of war in Europe, when it is most needed.”
Countries such as Germany, Italy and Spain have backed strong EU engagement with China, even as Washington takes a harder line with what it sees as an increasingly belligerent Beijing, the Reuters reported.
“I think we cannot just turn our back to China and try to ignore it. It is a key trading partner, a very large player,” Spanish Economy Minister Nadia Calvino said in discussion hosted by the Brookings Institution think tank in Washington.
The White House tried to play down Macron’s remarks, with spokesperson John Kirby saying the Biden administration remains “comfortable and confident in the terrific bilateral relationship we have with France.”
Taiwan parliament speaker You Si-kun has reacted to French President Emmanuel Macron’s comments, calling it ‘puzzling’ and wondering whether France’s founding ideals of liberty, equality and fraternity are now out of fashion.
France, like most countries, has no formal diplomatic relations with Chinese-claimed Taiwan but maintains a de facto embassy in Taipei and has joined other U.S. allies in underscoring the need for peace in the Taiwan Strait.
Taiwan’s foreign ministry on Tuesday sought to downplay Macron’s remarks, though said they had “noted” what he said.
Meanwhile German companies have moved closer to China, reluctant to leave a huge market they need to finance operations back home. Two powerful engines of the German economy, Volkswagen and chemical company BASF, are broadening their huge Chinese investments.
See Also: https://indiadiplomacy.in/china-iran-russia-nexus-behind-middle-east-deal/
