“Washington is a reliable ally”, but “we are also talking with Beijing”, says the French Minister of Economy

Its finance minister of FranceBruno Le Maire, stated that his country is a “stable and reliable ally” of the USAbut that he also discusses with her Chinaafter the controversial statements of the French president Emmanuel Macron.

“We intend to remain steadfast and reliable allies of the United States of America. There should be no misunderstandings about this.”said Le Maire, who attended the spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank in Washington.

Le Maire also said that France and Europe want to pursue an independent political path from the US and China, but want to be “strong and reliable allies of the US”.

“Before going to China, President Macron called President Biden to really coordinate the positions of the US and France vis-à-vis China,” the minister underlined, stressing that there was great coordination between Paris and Washington in their positions on the country she and that the US, France and Europe have a “coordinated approach” to relations with China.

Macron sparked backlash in the US and Europe by calling on the European Union not to be a “follower” of Washington or Beijing on the Taiwan issue, statements that were interpreted as a distancing from US policy.

When asked about this, Le Maire said it was a priority to “ask China to stop the escalation in Taiwan.”

On the economy, Le Maire deplored the fact that “some in the United States think that the economies of Western countries — American and European — and China should be completely decoupled,” while “the volume of trade between China and the US has never been this high.”

Exports and imports of goods and services between the US and China reached their highest level in 2022, according to data from the US Commerce Department.

Le Maire also sees the need to continue to ask for China’s involvement, whether it’s not selling arms to Russia, fighting climate change or restructuring the debt of poor countries, of which Beijing is one of the biggest. creditors. “We want China’s participation because we strongly believe that the best way to get concrete results from China’s relationship is with China’s participation.”he underlined.

Asked about Macron’s comments in an interview with Politico, in which the French president called on the European Union to reduce its dependence on the United States and warned against being drawn into a crisis over Taiwan, Le Maire said the controversy was “much ado about nothing” because the French president has supported such an approach for years.

“We want Europe to be dominant. I mean that in matters of geopolitics, industry, technology, we want Europe to be more independent”, said Le Mer. “This has been at the core of French politics for more than six years.”

Le Maire said Macron asked China to put more emphasis on dialogue on issues related to Taiwan. “We ask China to de-escalate” its military actions around Taiwan, he said.

Source: News Beast

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