On the sidelines of a press conference he held alongside Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte in the Netherlands, Emmanuel Macron returned to his controversial remarks concerning Taiwan. And pleaded for a “status quo” in the region, advocating a “constant” policy.
French President Emmanuel Macron said Wednesday that being an “ally” of the United States does not necessarily mean being a “vassal”, fully accepting controversial comments made on Taiwan. “Being an ally does not mean being a vassal. It’s not because we are allies (…) that we no longer have the right to think for ourselves,” he said at a conference. release in Amsterdam. “France is for the status quo in Taiwan”, it “supports the one-China policy and the search for a peaceful settlement of the situation”, he added.
Emmanuel Macron has sparked a wave of incomprehension in the United States and Europe by calling on the European Union not to be a “follower” of Washington or Beijing on the question of Taiwan, this autonomous territory located off the Chinese coast but bitterly claimed by Beijing. Military maneuvers, intended to test Chinese capabilities Remarks immediately interpreted as a distancing from Washington while the United States has also been very committed to Ukraine since the start of the Russian offensive.
Macron reacts to Donald Trump’s remarks
“Macron, who is a friend, is with China licking his ass,” added former US President Donald Trump. “The position of France and the Europeans is the same for Taiwan: we are for the status quo”, however declared the French president in Amsterdam. “This policy is constant, it has not changed,” he added.
Emmanuel Macron also deplored that Donald Trump is contributing to an “escalation”. “When he was president I didn’t comment on his sentences, I’m not going to do that now that he’s no longer president,” he said. France is not uninterested in tensions around Taiwan, a French diplomatic source said earlier on Wednesday, as China conducted military exercises to put pressure on the island.