Europe it must reduce its dependence on the United States and avoid being dragged in a clash between China and the United States on Taiwan: French President Emmanuel Macron, in an interview with Politico.eu and two transalpine journalists on his plane returning from a three-day state visit to China, underlined his theory of “strategic autonomy” for Europe, presumably led by France, to become a “third superpower”.
The head of the Elysée, who spent about six hours during his mission with the president Xi Jinping, he said that “the great risk” that Europe must face is to be involved “in crises that are not ours, which prevent it from building its strategic autonomy”. Xi and the Communist Party of China have enthusiastically supported Macron’s concept of strategic autonomy, and Beijing officials consistently refer to it in their dealings with European countries on the belief that the West is in decline and that China is on the rise: a scenario that could accelerate if transatlantic relations weaken.