The French president's chief foreign policy adviser has drawn a stark contrast with Emmanuel Macron's public rhetoric on China-Taiwan tensions.
Interviewed by CNN's Jim Sciutto at the Aspen Security Forum on Thursday, Emmanuel Bonne said France will"be with [the United States] in case of crisis." Bonne explained,"What matters most is to deter China from taking [military] action [against Taiwan]. And that was very much the core of the conversation that President Macron had with President Xi [Jinping] in China. And he conveyed very clearly the message that, I mean, 'You should not do it.
Macron sparked deep U.S. and Taiwanese concern during his China visit by telling Politico that"Europeans cannot resolve the crisis in Ukraine. How can we credibly say on Taiwan, 'Watch out, if you do something wrong, we will be there'? If you really want to increase tensions, that’s the way to do it." The underlying purpose of Macron's visit seemed to center on his very public presentation of deference to Xi in furtherance of France's trade interests with China.
Alongside a recent NATO leaders statement that was notably more hawkish on China, it is worth asking whether Bonne's comments in Aspen indicating France is at least slightly re-balancing its China policy closer to the U.S. Notably, Bonne also criticized China for what he said was its provision of military equipment, though not weapons, to Russia. This also aligns with recent Biden administration rhetoric.It will be interesting to see how Chinese state media responds to these comments.
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