French President Emmanuel Macron’s Taiwan comments make waves

The afternoon speech at a theater in The Hague comes after Macron raised eyebrows with comments on Taiwan after his recent visit to China

French President Emmanuel Macron is set to deliver a speech outlining his vision for the future of Europe during a two-day state visit to the Netherlands that began Tuesday. The afternoon speech at a theater in The Hague comes after Macron raised eyebrows with comments on Taiwan after his recent visit to China. “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 an interview published Sunday in French newspaper Les Echos and by Politico Europe.

“The worst thing would be to think that we Europeans must become followers on this topic and take our cue from the U.S. agenda and a Chinese overreaction.” The remarks raised questions about whether Macron’s views are in line with the European Union’s position and whether the bloc of 27 is able to become the “third superpower” that Macron says he hopes to build within “a few years.” The interview was Friday, before China launched large-scale combat exercises around Taiwan that simulated sealing off the island in response to the Taiwanese president’s trip to the U.S. last week.

Also Read: China’s military displays force after Tsai trip to the US

Tsai on China

Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen has condemned China’s military drills in the Taiwan Strait. China’s three-day, large-scale drills that ended Monday were retaliation for Tsai’s meeting with United States House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in California last week on her tour of Taiwan’s official and unofficial allies. “As the president, I represent our country in the world, whether it’s a visit to allied countries or stopping through in the U.S. and interacting with our international friends, and not only has this been going on for years, it’s the Taiwanese people’s shared expectation,” Tsai said in a statement. “But China used this as a pretext to start military drills, creating instability in the Taiwan Strait and region. This is not the attitude of a responsible major nation in this region."

US, Philippines hold largest war drills

American and Filipino forces on Tuesday launched their largest combat exercises in decades to be highlighted by a ship-sinking rocket barrage in waters across the disputed South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait, where Washington has repeatedly warned China over its increasingly aggressive actions. The annual drills by the longtime treaty allies called Balikatan — Tagalog for “shoulder-to-shoulder” — will run up to April 28 and involve more than 17,600 military personnel.

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