Meeting to mend fences with China, 45-year-old French President Emmanuel Macron received a hero’s welcome in Bejing, attesting to 69-year-old Chinese President Xi Jinping seeking to undermine 80-year-old President Joe Biden’s foreign policy. Biden blindsided the European Union [EU], backing Ukraine against the Russian Federation but eventually funding a proxy war to topple the Kremlin. Biden’s gone over the deep end in Ukraine, forgetting that the world needs an active, engaged and responsible Russian Federation, not one that’s at war with West. Biden turned a border dispute into a proxy war against the Kremlin. Macron has played peacemaker, keeping relations with Moscow, while Biden proceeded to push the world to the brink of WW III, possibly nuclear war on the European Continent. Traveling to Beijing, Macron hopes maintain foreign policy balance.
Biden has thrown his weight behind an independent and heavily fortified Taiwan, telling the island nation that he would send U.S. troops to defend Taipei to stop a Chinese takeover. Biden has refused to put U.S. troops on the frontlines in Ukraine, rebuffing Ukraine’s 45-year-old President Volodymer Zelensky’s requests for troops and no-fly-zone. Hosting Macron in Beijing, Xi hoped to normalize EU-Chinese relations, despite Biden pressuring Brussels to pick sides. Biden wants the EU to back his belligerent rhetoric toward Beijing, especially when it comes to Taiwan. Xi wants Brussels to think independently from Washington on Ukraine and Taiwan. Macron is the only EU leader to maintain close personal contact with 70-year-old Russian President Vladimir Putin, despite the ongoing U.S. and NATO proxy war agains the Kremlin. Xi wants Macron to see both sides.
Biden has driven Xi into a close strategic economic and military alliance with the Russian Federation. Biden did everything possible to get the EU to pressure Xi into denouncing Putin over the Ukraine War. When that didn’t happen, U.S.-Chinese relations deteriorated to the point that military conflict is within the realm of growing possibility over Taiwan. Xi agrees with Putin on the issue of U.S. encroachment in the South China Sea and Eastern Europe. Biden said repeatedly that the Ukraine War was “unprovoked and unjustified,” a blatant “land grab” by the Kremlin. Putin and Xi disagree with Biden’s statements, saying if the U.S. hadn’t toppled the Kremlin-backed Kiev government of Viktor Yanukovich Feb. 22, 2014, the U.S. would not have armed Ukraine into a national security threat to Russia. Biden denies that his arms deliveries to Ukraine pushed Putin to invade Feb. 24, 2022.
Xi put out the red carpet, so to speak, for Macron, wanting to let Brussels know that China values its relationship to the EU. “All Chinese foreign policy offensives have the U.S.-China relationship in the background . . .so to work with any country, especially mid or big powers, like France, is something they’ll try to do to counter the U.S.” said Xhao Suisherng, China studies professor at the University of Denver. Xi wants Macron to deliver a strong message to Brussels that China seeks to maintain cooperative relations with the EU. When it comes to the U.S., Xi wants Brussels to back China’s claims of sovereignty over Taiwan. Biden has made clear that the U.S. will defend Taiwan over any attempt by Beijing to assert power over the island nation. Unlike Macron, Xi sees EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen as taking the U.S. side, something not welcomed in Beijing.
Macron isn’t trusted in Washington, where Biden and other war hawks in Congress demand unconditional loyalty from EU leaders. Brussels understands that whatever beef the U.S. has with Beijing, it doesn’t need to leak into EU-Chinese relations. “Macron seemed to believe he could charm Xi into shifting his approach on the war,” said Rhrodium Group’s China expert Noah Barkin. “He gave Xi a series of gifts—denouncing decoupling as a trap, bringing a huge business delegation along, and reaffirming his support for strategic autonomy—without getting much in return,” Barkin said, knowing that France has its own agenda in China. Biden hopes he could put the EU into the same situation as Washington, forced to choose between Ukraine, Taiwan or close strategic relations with the EU. Biden’s proxy war against Russia has done more damage to U.S.-EU relations.
Marcon’s visit to Beijing showed that France has its own agenda in Beijing, not simply a puppet of the U.S. government. Macron has played peacemaker with Moscow, hoping to persuade Putin to move the conflict to the peace table. But with Zelensky making unrealistic demands, there’s been very little progress on the peace front. Zelensky wants all of Ukraine’s sovereign land returned to Kiev or every Russian solider out of Ukraine before he’s willing to talk peace. Macron tried to influence Xi’s thinking on Ukraine but, in the end, Xi does what’s best for Beijing. “China and Europe can s till be partners,” said Wang Yiwei, director of Center for European Studies at Renmin University in Beijing. “Rather than systematic rivals or competitors,” showing that Macron won’t let the Ukraine War interfere with France’s business model in China. Macron does what’s good for France.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
