Professor Andrew Michta, a U.S. political scientist of Polish origin, sees a serious problem with French President Emmanuel Macron’s promotion of the idea of European strategic autonomy.
“All Europe’s leaders, not just President Macron, should remember that Xi’s goal is to pull Europe away from the US,” he wrote on Twitter.
Michta adds that “China is financing Putin’s war with Ukraine by increasing trade with Russia and increasing its purchase of Russian energy.” Due to this, the professor urges “extreme caution on EUR China policy.”
In the following tweets, the professor, who is the dean of the College of International and Security Studies at the George C. Marshall Center in Garmisch, Germany, warned that the effects of the French president’s visit to China could be “potentially damaging to transatlantic relations.”
The American academic was commenting on an interview with Macron in which the French leader argued that Europe should reduce its dependence on the U.S. and that it should resist being drawn into the conflict between the Americans and China over Taiwan. Macron sees room for “European strategic autonomy” with regard to both the U.S. and China.
France’s president declared that Europe faces a “big risk” and the danger of becoming involved in a crisis that has nothing to do with it. In his view, the escalation of the crisis over Taiwan is not in Europe’s interests. According to him, Europe should not allow itself to be taken over by panic and should not replicate what the U.S. is doing in Asia.
Last week, Macron completed a three-day visit to Beijing. Apart from trade relations, the visit included a discussion about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. According to a communiqué issued at the end of the visit, Chinese President Xi declared that dragging out the war is not in anyone’s interests and that there should be an armistice leading to the resolution of the conflict.
