French President Emmanuel Macron warned on Friday that the growing division between the United States and China poses the greatest threat to the global order. Speaking at the Shangri-La Dialogue, Asia’s premier defense forum, Macron emphasized the need for France and its partners in the Indo-Pacific to forge new coalitions.
Macron’s visit to the region underscores the efforts of France and the European Union to strengthen commercial ties in Asia amid uncertainty surrounding U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade policies.
“France is a friend and an ally of the United States, and is a friend, and we do cooperate – even if sometimes we disagree and compete – with China,” Macron stated, emphasizing that choosing sides would undermine the global order and dismantle institutions created after World War II to promote peace and cooperation.
He argued that Asia and Europe share a common interest in preventing the disintegration of the global order, stating, “The time for non-alignment has undoubtedly passed, but the time for coalitions of action has come.”
Macron’s visit follows those of leaders from China, Japan, and other European countries, highlighting the strategic importance of Southeast Asia amidst global supply chain and trade uncertainties.
The French leader also cautioned that the inability of the United States and Europe to resolve the conflict in Ukraine would damage their credibility in the Indo-Pacific region.
“If the United States of America and the Europeans are unable to fix in the short term the Ukraine crisis, I think the credibility of the U.S. and Europe to fix any other crisis in this region will be very low,” he said.
Macron warned of the risks to Asia if Russia were allowed to seize Ukrainian territory unopposed, drawing a parallel to the situation with Taiwan.
“If we consider that Russia could be allowed to take a part of the territory of Ukraine without any restriction, without any constraint, without any reaction of the global order….what could happen in Taiwan?” he asked.
China considers Taiwan, a democratically-governed island, as its own territory and has increased military and political pressure to assert its claims.
About The Author
