France's Macron looking for a 'third superpower' without U.S. dependency

French President Emmanuel Macron, after returning from a visit to China, said that his country and the European Union must not "follow the United States" regarding the issue around Taiwan, so they won’t be drawn into a confrontation.

in an interview with POLITICO, Macron emphasized his theory of “strategic autonomy” for Europe - presumably led by France - to become a “third superpower," saying “the great risk” Europe faces is that it “gets caught up in crises that are not ours, which prevents it from building its strategic autonomy."

“If the tensions between the two superpowers (China and the United States) heat up… we won’t have the time nor the resources to finance our strategic autonomy and we will become vassals," he added.

Macron further suggested that Europe should reduce its dependence on the U.S. dollar. This policy is in line with central objectives from both Moscow and Beijing, who aim to reduce their reliance with a recent BRICS plan to develop a new currency.

China's leader Xi Jinping and the Chinese Communist Party enthusiastically endorse this goal of European autonomy. Macron did not address the ongoing U.S. aid and security guarantee through NATO - particularly amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the first major war in Europe since World War II.

The French leader brought up the war, though, stating that “Europeans cannot resolve the crisis in Ukraine."

"How can we credibly say to 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," Macron said.

Hours after Macron’s departure, the Chinese military started a three-day exercise consisting of simulated targeted strikes on Taiwan and encirclement of the island. China warned that Taipei’s independence and cross-strait peace were "mutually exclusive," and blamed unnamed "foreign forces" for the tensions.