French President Emmanuel Macron is calling on medium-sized powers to join forces and stand up to the US and China.
Macron hammered the message during his tour of Asia this week, where he discussed maritime security in the Strait of Hormuz and closer cooperation with South Korea and Japan — two countries badly suffering from high energy costs as the war in Iran keeps the strait closed, Bloomberg reported.
“Our objective is not to be the vassals of two hegemonic powers,” he told students in Seoul. “We don’t want to depend on the dominance, let’s say on China, or we don’t want to be too much exposed to the unpredictability of the US.”
European countries, he said, have a shared agenda with places like Japan and South Korea on issues like international law, democracy, climate change and global health.
He ticked off other similarly aligned countries: Australia, Brazil, Canada and India. Together, he argued, this coalition can work on artificial intelligence, space, energy, nuclear energy, defense, security — “whatever.”
Macron, who oversees the European Union’s sole nuclear power and its most powerful defense industry, has long been calling for Europe to counterbalance the US and China.
During a trip to China in 2023, he sparked outrage among US allies in Asia and Europe when he said the EU should not be a “vassal” of the US.
He warned against being drawn into a Taiwan conflict, at a time when China was conducting a drill around the self-ruling island, which Beijing claims as its own.
Over the past few years, following a tradition established by France’s World War II leader Charles De Gaulle, Macron has repeatedly sought to strike a middle path between China and the US, warning against a split in the global order.
But with the US flouting international institutions, the traditional French position is resonating differently. Macron will push his message in June when he hosts the G-7 summit in France.
Macron’s pleas come as US President Donald Trump has also renewed his attacks against NATO and other allies, specifically blasting France and South Korea for not helping him enough in Iran.
Trump targeted France for not allowing US military planes to fly over French territory, calling the country “VERY UNHELPFUL” and adding “The USA. will REMEMBER!!!” in a social media post.
Macron has repeatedly said that France was not consulted over the war and is not a part of it.
“The US is a great country,” Macron said, but is risking opening “Pandora’s Box” with its current approach.
“I don’t believe that we will fix the situation just by bombing or by military operations,” he argued, alluding to Iran. The French leader cited Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan: “We never deliver.”
Macron has instead called for a “deconfliction mechanism with Iran,” and proposed an escort mission for vessels in the Strait of Hormuz once bombings end.
The Middle East conflict has halted commercial shipping in the strait, through which roughly a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas exports normally flow.
