French President Emmanuel Macron lost his supporters with a disastrous state visit to China after bringing France to its knees, by overriding street protests and parliamentary opposition to impose pension reform by diktat, wrote British daily “The Telegraph”.
The daily said that Macron has made himself ridiculous on the international stage and reduced France to geopolitical irrelevance.
His talks with Xi Jinping appear to have been a triumph for the Chinese which put European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, whose visit coincided with Macron’s and who represents the EU formally, in an awkward position.
The French President’s exact position on the US’s commitment to Taiwan, and international access to the South China Sea, remains to be seen, but it could be hostile.
The Chinese leader ignored his guest’s entreaties and gave no assurances that he would put pressure on Putin over the war in Ukraine.
The Chinese forces began exercises simulating a naval blockade and precision strikes on Taiwan as soon as the French delegation left.
In an interview, Macron appeared to conflate European with French interests and irked the Biden Administration by suggesting that Europe must avoid being drawn into a conflict over Taiwan.
These remarks were considered so provocative that the Élysée press office even tried to censor the English version.
In Washington, where the line about Europe as a “vassal” of the US played into the debate about support for Ukraine, the reaction was predictably hostile.
In a speech on Tuesday in The Hague, Macron reinforced his demand for Europe to become a third superpower, though he was silent on Taiwan.
A few years ago he claimed that Nato was “brain dead” and suggested that it would eventually be replaced by an EU army, yet his posturing was comprehensively debunked by the response to the invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
If the Russians ever do agree to serious negotiations, it will not be thanks to French diplomacy but to Ukrainian victories on the battlefield, it said.