Four years ago, Emmanuel Macron remarked that the era of European naivety on China was over. As Andrew Small establishes in his book The Rupture, the shift was not born primarily of US pressure to pick sides – though that was unquestionably felt – but of Europe’s own dealings with Beijing. Views have hardened further thanks to China’s increasing forcefulness in foreign policy, its handling of Covid and its support for Russia over Ukraine. Last month, the EU Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, urged a “de-risking” of relations with…
Tag: France
Macron Says France Backs Status Quo on Taiwan
President Emmanuel Macron said on Wednesday that France’s position toward Taiwan remained unchanged, but he stood by comments he made on the island’s security that dismayed some allies after he returned from a trip to China and insisted that Europe could not be a “vassal” of the United States. “France’s position and the European position on Taiwan is the same,” Mr. Macron said at a news conference in Amsterdam on the second day of a state visit to the Netherlands. “We are for the status quo. This policy is constant…
Macron stands by divisive remark about US allies ‘not being vassals’
Emmanuel Macron has stood by his controversial comments on Taiwan, repeating that being a US ally did not mean being a “vassal”. At the end of a state visit to the Netherlands during which he has also faced protests over pension reforms at home, Macron appeared to reaffirm the remarks he made in an interview on Sunday, in which he called for Europe to act more independently from the US over Taiwan. “Being an ally does not mean being a vassal … [or] mean that we don’t have the right…
‘Sign of weakness’: Truss criticises Von der Leyen and Macron for visiting China – video
The former British prime minister Liz Truss has criticised the visit by the French president, Emmanuel Macron, and the European Commission president, Ursula Von der Leyen, to Beijing, describing it as a mistake. Speaking during a Q&A after delivering the 2023 Margaret Thatcher freedom lecture on Wednesday, Truss said: ‘The idea that we can treat China as just another global player is wrong. It is a totalitarian regime and we need to adapt our policies accordingly.’ Truss also called on western countries to take a stronger line on Taiwan The…
China’s engagement in peace in Ukraine is a ‘good thing’, says France’s Macron – video
Emmanuel Macron has said China’s engagement in peace in Ukraine is a ‘good thing’. The French president told reporters that he would visit China in early April, in part to seek Beijing’s help with ending the war Russia-Ukraine war: latest updates The Guardian
Western Leaders Pledge Support for Ukraine at Munich Security Conference
MUNICH — Nearly one year into the brutal and costly war in Ukraine, Western leaders pledged to remain steadfast in their support for Kyiv amid worries about whether their unity can survive what France’s president called “a prolonged conflict.” As dozens of leaders convened in Germany, Ukraine’s president opened the annual Munich Security Conference with a warning against “fatigue” and emphasizing that speed is of the essence if his country is to hold off a renewed Russian onslaught. “We need to hurry up,” Mr. Zelensky implored the attendees. He compared…
Wrath and awe: a short history of balloons and their power to fire up mob fury | Jeff Sparrow
On 16 December 1784 – barely a year after the first crewed flight – a British cartoonist published a sketch entitled The Battle of the Balloons, depicting airships belonging to the leading powers of the day firing cannons at each other from among the clouds. In his book Falling Upwards, Richard Holmes adduces the drawing as evidence of the intimate relationship between balloons and military competition, with, for instance, the first French company of aeronauts formed on the remarkably early date of 29 March 1794. Today we might contemplate another…
Old world – Inside the 27 January Guardian Weekly
It’s an age-old question: how should nations around the world adjust to their elderly societies? Japan has faced such realities for a while now, but the challenges are becoming increasingly common across the developed world where families are getting smaller, and people are living longer. Even India – which will soon overtake China as the world’s most populous country – is now seeing an older demographic become more prevalent in some states. The countries of sub-Saharan Africa, meanwhile, look most likely to enjoy the benefits of a younger population as…
Ageing planet: the new demographic timebomb
In Japan even criminals are getting old. In the country’s notorious yakuza crime syndicates, more than half of members are now over 50, according to the national police agency. Veterans who have passed 70 outnumber those under 20 by two to one, even though teenagers are the groups’ traditional source of “muscle”. Japan is a pioneer in adjusting to the skewed demographics of an ageing society, with the impact of its low birthrates exacerbated by a fierce resistance to immigration. But its dilemmas are increasingly shared around the world. India…
China Denounces Covid Testing Rules Imposed on Its Travelers
The Chinese government on Tuesday denounced Covid testing requirements imposed by other countries on travelers arriving from China as unscientific or “excessive,” and threatened to take countermeasures. As China prepares to open its borders later this week, allowing its citizens to travel abroad for the first time since the pandemic began, countries like Canada, the United States, France, Spain, Japan and the United Kingdom have moved to restrict travelers arriving from the country. The countries have cited concerns about a surge in Covid-19 infections in China, the potential risk of…