original title:
Macron: Europe must strengthen its strategic autonomy to withstand the pressure of becoming a “follower of the United States“
China News Agency, Paris, April 10 (Reporter Li Yang) French President Macron said after his visit to China that Europe must strengthen its strategic autonomy and resist the pressure to become a “follower of the United States.”
Macron made the above remarks through interviews with accompanying media reporters on the special plane returning to France after his visit to China. The French “Les Echos” and Political News Network published relevant interview articles on the 9th local time.
The French Les Echos article published most of the interview in question-and-answer format. According to the article, Macron said in the interview that Europe has not established strategic autonomy for a long time. He believes that establishing strategic autonomy is crucial to prevent European countries from becoming vassal states, and that Europe can become a “third pole” power besides the two “superpowers”.
Macron said the “big risk” Europe faces is that it gets caught up in “crises that are not ours” that prevent Europe from building strategic autonomy. He called on Europeans to “must wake up” and that its priority is not to cooperate with other countries on agendas around the world; Europe should not be locked in camp confrontation.
When talking about the Taiwan issue, Macron pointed out that the question that Europeans need to answer is whether the intensification of the Taiwan issue is in our interest? the answer is negative. If the tension between the two superpowers intensifies, we will not have the time or the means to increase our strategic autonomy.
Macron said that Europe has increased its dependence on the United States in the fields of weapons and energy, and now Europe must focus on upgrading its own defense industry. He said the Ukraine crisis had accelerated demand for defense equipment. But Europe’s defense industry can’t keep up with all the demands, prompting some countries to temporarily turn to U.S. or even Asian suppliers. To face this reality, we must promote the development of the defense industry.
In addition, on the Ukrainian crisis, Macron said that he has established a number of basic consensuses with China, including: supporting the purposes and principles of the UN Charter; clearly expressing his opposition to the use of nuclear weapons; clearly calling for the observance of international humanitarian law and the protection of children; The will to lasting peace. (over)