China backs Macron’s remarks against following US policy on Taiwan

Beijing: China on Wednesday waded into controversy over French President Emmanuel Macron’s comments in which he called for greater “European sovereignty” by not following the US policy over China and Taiwan.

“The question we need to answer, as Europeans, is the following: Is it in our interest to accelerate (a crisis) on Taiwan? No,” Macron was quoted as saying in the interview after his recent visit to China during which he held extensive talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing and later Guangzhou.

“The worst 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,” Macron said.

The comments were made last Friday before China launched large-scale combat drills around Taiwan that simulated sealing off the island in response to the Taiwanese president’s trip to the US last week.

Macron’s comments raised questions over the EU’s relationship with both the US and China.

“We have noticed that President Macron’s view that Europe should insist on strategic autonomy and avoid getting involved in group confrontations has attracted some criticism, especially from the United States. We are not surprised by this,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told the media here while responding to the controversy over the French President’s comments.

“What we want to tell you is that some countries do not want to see other countries become independent, and always want to coerce other countries to obey their will,” he said.

“But adhering to strategic autonomy will win more respect and more friends, while coercion and pressure will only result in more resistance and opposition,” Wang said.

He said Macron paid a successful visit to China and the two sides reached important consensus, injecting new impetus into deepening China-France and China-EU cooperation.