French President Emmanuel Macron reiterated his call for European “strategic autonomy” at a forum of the Atlantic Council on Thursday, saying, “It is certainly not our duty to put ourselves in a situation dependent on a US decision.”
Why it matters: It will disappoint some in Washington to learn that Macron is applying that framework to competition between the US and China.
- If Europe and its partners pursue a strategy of “all working together against China,” Macron said, it will only cause China to “expand its regional strategy” and diminish its cooperation on global issues.
- But Europe also cannot fully treat China as a partner, similar to the US, as China is a systemic rival when it comes to values and geopolitics in the Indo-Pacific.
- So Europe needs to work with the US on certain issues, cooperate with China where possible and “try to be the useful player in inducing China to stop dividing”.
Macron set four priorities when it comes to China:
- Work with the permanent members of the UN Security Council for security convergence.
- Collaborate with China on climate change.
- Strengthen the protection of intellectual property and fair trade.
- Challenging China on human rights.
More takeaways:
- On Russia, Macron reiterated his position that regular dialogue with Russia is important for the security of Europe, even though some colleagues are trying to isolate Vladimir Putin.
- On Iran, Macron said he welcomed Biden’s desire for negotiations with Iran, saying, “I’ll be here … to try to be an honest and committed broker in this dialogue.” He added that Israel and Saudi Arabia should be brought in, and issues like ballistic missiles should be on the table.
Worth nothing: Macron destroyed social media networks for their decisions to “suddenly turn off the microphone” as soon as they were certain Donald Trump would leave power.
Go deeper: Macron is blowing up social media platforms to ban Trump