The EU goes to war with Macron over China

EU Commission VP advocates gunboat diplomacy whilst Macron jumps overboard

Montage © Facts4EU.Org 2023

Macron has alienated his own people and is now alienating the rest of the EU

Once again the EU’s much-proclaimed ‘solidarity’ is nowhere on the horizon. The Vice President of the EU Commission (also its de facto Foreign and Defence Secretary) Josep Borrell has called for EU warships to patrol the Taiwan Straits. His comments conflict completely with those of Emmanuel Macron.

There are of course no 'EU warships' – yet – but Borrell was calling on those EU countries with naval reach (principally France) to make their presence felt and to keep the navigation routes open. This is exactly what Brexit Britain’s Royal Navy has already been doing.

The EU at war with itself

Senor Borrell’s statements are in direct conflict with the statements of Emmanuel Macron last week. It appears that the EU is still in complete disarray over its ‘Common Foreign and Security Policy’.

10 days ago the EU Commission’s Senior Vice President Josep Borrell was supposed to have been in China, following in the footsteps of Emmanuel Macron and EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. After testing positive for Covid-19, however, he had to cancel his trip but it didn’t stop him from setting out his conclusions about the EU’s relationship with China, which are at complete odds with the statements of the French President.

The world according to Emmanuel Macron

In a glossy video produced by the Elysée Palace after Macron's visit to China, he said :

"I think there is a mutual attraction between China and France. A fascination, a friendship, quite a singular path."

As his plane left China following his extended visit two weeks ago, French President Emmanuel Macron spoke to journalists about his views on whether the Taiwan problem is of any concern to Europeans and decisively concluded it is not.

“The paradox would be that, overcome with panic, we believe we are just America’s followers.”
“The question Europeans need to answer … Is it in our interest to accelerate [a crisis] on Taiwan? No. The worse 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.”

“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 Chinese government was delighted with his comments. Within hours of his Airbus 330 taking off for Paris, China commenced major military exercises which directly threatened Taiwan.

Macron naively emboldens China, as its Ambassador to France questions validity of EU countries

An example of how President Macron’s recent love-in with President XI has already had effects can be seen by the interview China’s Ambassador to France did with a French TV station on Friday. In it he questioned Crimea being part of Ukraine and even questioned the legal validity of three of the EU’s member states: Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia.

“Even these ex-Soviet Union countries do not have effective status under international law because there’s no international accord to materialise their status as a sovereign country.”
- Lu Shaye, China’s Ambassador to France, LCI interview, 21 Apr 2023

This will come as news to the Chinese Ambassadors to Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, who were all summoned by the foreign ministers of those countries at the weekend. China has yet to repudiate the remarks of Lu Shaye.

Here is Lithuania’s Foreign Minister on Saturday :-

If anyone is still wondering why the Baltic States don't trust China to "broker peace in Ukraine", here's a Chinese ambassador arguing that Crimea is Russian and our countries' borders have no legal basis. pic.twitter.com/JaloJnSEx3
— Gabrielius Landsbergis🇱🇹 (@GLandsbergis) April 22, 2023

The world according to Josep Borrell

We can present three examples of how the French President’s views on China conflict fundamentally with those of the EU.

Firstly, the EU’s de facto Foreign and Defence Secretary published the speech he was supposed to have given in China, had he not tested positive for Covid. Here are just some of the things he wrote:-

“Bilateral relations between the EU and China have deteriorated in recent years, due to a growing number of irritants (like China's disproportionate response to EU’s targeted restricted measures, China’s trade measures against Lithuania, with a direct impact on our EU single market, and China's position on the war against Ukraine).”
“On climate change, for example: despite China’s growing efforts in the fight against CO2 emissions, China still burns as much coal as the rest of the world combined.”
“The total amount of our trade has reached nearly 850 billion euros in 2022. But these exchanges are increasingly unbalanced to our disadvantage. Our trade deficit has reached a record of 400 billion euros, or 2.3% of our GDP. This imbalance must therefore be reduced.”
“If imbalances are not corrected, we have to react.”

- Josep Borrell’s blog, 13 Apr 2023

Secondly, on Tuesday last week the EU Commission’s Senior Vice President (appointed, not elected by any popular mandate) spoke to the EU Parliament.

Taiwan is clearly part of our geostrategic perimeter to guarantee peace."
"It is not only for a moral reason that an action against Taiwan must necessarily be rejected. It is also because it would be, in economic terms, extremely serious for us, because Taiwan has a strategic role in the production of the most advanced semiconductors."
- Josep Borrell speaking to the EU Parliament, 18 Apr 2023

Finally, he followed this up yesterday with an article in the Journal Du Dimanche where he wrote that the Taiwan issue concerns the EU "economically, commercially and technologically."

In short, the EU Commission’s statements are diametrically opposed to those of the French President.

Observations

How can the world take the EU seriously?

Our report shows clearly that the views and policies of the President of the EU’s No.2 economy, France, are wholly contrary to those of the EU establishment in Brussels.

Macron managed to avoid some of the uglier scenes in France during his China visit, but he will have seen the news of the torchings and riots in French cities in his absence. Meanwhile the EU has taken a completely different line towards China. Not nearly robust enough, but far more robust than Monsieur Macron’s.

It is almost impossible to reconcile the two, making any talk of ‘EU solidarity’ a very hollow pretence.

Emmanuel Macron’s problems mount

Emmanuel Macron’s popularity ratings in France are not looking good. A full 70% of French citizens disapprove of him, according to the latest poll last week. He has embarked on a nationwide tour but his problems just escalate.

Last week in the South of France he visited a lovely little village called Ganges. French police are known for their barbarity but even so it is telling that they had to use tear-gas against the small crowd that gathered. We invite readers to imagine Rishi Sunak requiring riot police with tear-gas every time he steps out of No.10.

China and its relations with the EU and with the UK

There can be no question that China is a threat – economically, culturally, and militarily. President Xi has installed himself as a dictator in much the same way Vladimir Putin has in Russia. These are both totalitarian regimes and should be treated as such.

With senior British politicians such as Sir Iain Duncan Smith and Tim Loughton being banned persons by the Chinese government – an outrageous move - it is high time the British government started taking steps to wean the United Kingdom off its reliance on Chinese imports.

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Brexit Facts4EU.Org, Mon 24 Apr 2023

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Reader Comments 11

1. terence patrick hewett , Monday, April 24, 2023, 06:06:

To paraphrase New Labour, 'it can only get worse.'

2. Plutus , Monday, April 24, 2023, 08:26:

Is the "EU at war with Macron"? Hardly, Macron has had his ego repeatedly bruised both nationally & internationally,
from which he seems to be nursing a bloody nose. Not so long ago, he may have thought himself an equal to Putin & Xi,
only to find that they are far ahead in their plans than he figured.
They've not only snubbed him publicly but have totally pushed him out of Africa too.
This has forced him into what looks like a nervous reassessment – to which the sharks will inevitably gather & the carrion birds will circle.
The perception that he has developed a "clouded judgement", or is weak, of course opens France & therefore by extension, the EU, to even more challenges.
This of course, results in a "struggle" of ideas, but it's far from being a war & if it is, it looks bad for Macron – not the EU.
Such a “struggle of ideas” is important , especially given that the foray into Ukraine, having turned into a protracted war,
is sucking in neutrals & spectators on either side.
Such conditions lend themselves to unpredictable escalation, which can equally be brought on by hasty action or lengthy inaction.
Macron has invited challenge by going to China but this is something he needs to be challenged on by the EU sooner, rather than later.
His need for relevance outweighs regional security. At issue is – can he survive any more challenges of this magnitude?
Either way, it's worse for Macron than it is for the EU, which will most likely, outlast him.

3. Catherine , Monday, April 24, 2023, 08:42:

The son of a MP banned by the Chinese has applied to study at some UK universities. The CHinese have now threatened to withdraw funding from those universities, unless they reject the young man's application.

4. plutus , Monday, April 24, 2023, 11:01:

There are some, even here, who still think that it is better to increase trade with China - only because it is not the EU,
while totally forgetting that China almost always bargains with a sword in one hand.
Australia & India drove a hard bargain -what more China?
To what ends of the globe do we need to go when we had established trade literally a walk from our own doorstep?
What did we learn here before we repeat it there? Spilt milk is not why I say this, the point is, we need to be mindful of not meeting with worse outcomes, when we could & should normalise relations with those closer to us.
In fact, it is arguably in our own interests to conduct Brexit in such a way that we're held to a high & respected standard, by way of choice,
rather than forced into, when entering new deals.
PM Sunak's WF, whether you agree with it or not, was a positive step, not only in the re-engagement of calm talks but also it got the world at large to see the UK somewhat return to diplomatic norms. This can only be a good thing when signing anything new or re-assuring former (mostly, Commonwealth ) allies - who are actively being courted by Russia & China.
While stating the positives - Mr Sunak's math drive is something we will just have to say whatever we like about it now - but my feeling is that we will thank him yet, if it is done effectively. We simply cannot be left out of a huge chunk of the future economy, all because we failed to get it right on math.
I wouldn't mind if he expanded that to STEM related subjects but the outcry would be that too many will be left behind, if the focus was just on these subjects. The stark reality is that we could all be left behind as we're already lagging in math, when compared to other nations.
I will state, once again, just in case the chorus of "Rejoiner" hits a high note - I, like many, are more interested in what follows Brexit than squandering the present & the future ruminating on the past or the EU.

5. Major Graham Lear , Monday, April 24, 2023, 11:37:

We British already have warships in that vicinity and they have been stationed there since 2021 on a five to ten-year deployment with crews on a rota basis. I guess the EU is feeling a little left out globally.

6. NH , Monday, April 24, 2023, 14:21:

4 "when we had established trade literally a walk from our own doorstep"
We still have free trade with Europe via the Trade and Cooperation Agreement. We should look to increase trade with countries when it is mutually beneficial.
There is no such thing as a trade deal that ideally suits 28 diverse economies. Major obstacles to trade such as the Common Agricultural Policy do not exist because they are good for Europe. They exist because they benefit major countries which will always refuse to let go of them.

7. terence patrick hewett , Monday, April 24, 2023, 14:29:

@plutus
The use of the diminutive "math" instead of "maths" amply illustrates exactly where you come from: so less of the "we."

8. jon iivesey , Monday, April 24, 2023, 16:18:

Yes, obviously the EU is "at war with Macron" because Macron is trying to pull an end run around EU policy. He goes to Beijing with UvL and in effect announces policy. You can't do that by yourself.
The fact that Macron's proposed policy was a self contradiction doesn't exactly help. He asked Xi to take part in mediation but also asked him to condemn the Russian invasion, in effect inviting Xi to act in bad faith.
This exposes a few things about the EU. The French President acts without thinking, even in circumstances where he needs to think. There is no agreed EU overall policy on Ukraine. Worse, there is no agreed policy on how to announce EU policies, with the result that one yer after the War began different EU Leaders are still announcing different policies - and that's the major leaders; I'm not talking about Orban.
When you reflect that this War has its roots in an EU policy blunder back in 2014 that infuriated the US by its sheer incompetence, things don't look good, and we are well out of it.

9. Captain Thunderbolt , Monday, April 24, 2023, 16:32:

The total amount of our trade has reached nearly 850 billion euros in 2022. But these exchanges are increasingly unbalanced to our disadvantage. Our trade deficit has reached a record of 400 billion euros, or 2.3% of our GDP. This imbalance must therefore be reduced.”
“If imbalances are not corrected, we have to react.”
Josep Borrell speaking to the EU Parliament, 18 Apr 2023
-/-/-
So a trade a massive imbalance is only a concern when it affects the EU as a whole, but not whna massive imbalance happens was internal between rEU and UK

10. jon iivesey , Monday, April 24, 2023, 17:13:

The traditional measures of trade, such as total trade or trade balance, are pretty blunt instruments that do not tell you very much about quality. The trade you really want is trade that makes the best use of your economic advantages and which promotes the quality and skills of your economy.
Trading pots of marmalade and legs of lamb across the Channel is what a lot of newspaper readers think trade is, but in fact food and drink are extremely small components of trade and don't matter much for the quality of the economy. The Chairman of Burberry's is up in arms this morning about VAT refunds for tourists who might buy one of his macs, but although that is the tabloid view of trade, it really misses the point.
Trade is only going to be transformational for the UK economy if we concentrate on exports that emphasize the country's advantages Science, Technology, Design, Computing, AI, Financial and other Services skills, and that means World Trade, not truckloads of veggies at Dover.
Exporting pots of jam and importing cheap labour from Eastern Europe to pick fruit just isn't going to do it. The blinkered small-time businessman view of trade has to go and be replaced by the high-tech, services and engineering view.

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