French President Emmanuel Macron has clarified his short-term position on the future of Europe and its relations with China and the United States. Returning from a visit to Beijing, Macron believes that Europe should avoid becoming embroiled in a confrontation between the U.S. and China, reduce its dependence on the U.S. dollar to avoid becoming a “vassal state,” and apply his concept of “strategic autonomy.”
Emmanuel Macron believes that Europe should be autonomous with respect to the United States and China
French President Emmanuel Macron recently made clear his stance on the geopolitical and macroeconomic issues currently facing Europe, which is in the middle of a Russia-Ukraine war and a possible Taiwan conflict President Macron met with Chinese President Xi Jinping during a three-day visit to China, He said that Europe is generally caught up in third-party issues that affect its chances of developing “strategic autonomy.”
Macron also noted that this behavior of the European Union bloc has reduced it to being seen as a mere supporter of the United States, and in this regard he said Politico:
It would be a paradox that they would panic and think that they are followers of the United States.
As part of his determination for “strategic autonomy,” Macron acknowledged that Europe could not possibly influence the course of a possible conflict in Taiwan and that such an attempt would only increase tensions between the parties.
Analysts believe that the strategic autonomy doctrine has more to do with the United States than with countries like China or Russia. This is explained by Cui Hongjian, director of European studies at the China Institute of International Studies,::
That is, Europe does not want to feed into “great power” rivalries and needs to have its own say on security, defense, and foreign policy issues that have usually been dominated by the U.S.
avoid “vassal state” status by reducing its dependence on the dollar
Macron also said that Europe is dependent on the U.S. for energy and military, and suggested promoting the development of European alternatives. Macron also criticized the European Union’s dependence on the U.S. dollar, explaining that this might hurt them in the future.
On how this dependence would affect Europe, Macron declared:
If tensions between the two superpowers increase, they will have neither the time nor the resources to finance their strategic independence and will become a vassal state.
Although European countries are not subject to US dollar-centered sanctions, European companies often say they cannot do business with sanctioned countries or entities because of the risk of being subject to secondary sanctions. China, Russia, and other BRICS countries are currently working to develop alternatives to the use of the U.S. dollar to conduct these activities.
President Xi had previously called on the bloc to “stand up against hegemony, unilateralism, and attempts to cut off economies and supply chains” and not adopt or support the sanctions.
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