(Reuters) – French President Emmanuel Macron said in comments published on Sunday that Europe had no interest in accelerating the crisis over Taiwan and should pursue a strategy independent of Washington and Beijing.
Macron has just returned from a three-day state visit to China, where he received a warm welcome from President Xi Jinping. China launched drills around Taiwan on Saturday, angered by President Tsai Ing-wen’s meeting with US House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Wednesday.
China views democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory and has never renounced the use of force to bring the island under its control. The Taiwan government strongly opposes China’s allegations.
Macron said Europe should not accelerate the conflict but rather take the time to build its position as a third pole between China and the United States, in comments he made to French newspaper Les Ecos and Politico during his visit to China.
Politico quoted him as saying, “The worst thing is to think that we Europeans should become followers on this subject and adapt to the American tempo or the Chinese overreaction.”
The media quoted him as saying that Europe should better finance its defense industry, develop nuclear and renewable energy, and reduce dependence on the dollar to reduce its dependence on the United States.
The joint interview took place on a flight on Friday between Beijing and Guangzhou.
On Friday, an adviser to Macron told reporters in Guangzhou that Xi and Macron had an “intensive and frank” discussion on the Taiwan issue during their meetings.
“The president’s feeling is that we must be careful not to have any incident or escalation of tension (that might lead) to China attacking,” the Elysee adviser said.
Macron traveled to China with a 50-strong business delegation, including Airbus and nuclear power producer EDF, which signed deals during the visit.
(Reporting by Lily Forody and Michelle Rose). Editing by Philippa Fletcher
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