Macron's pivot to China puzzles French diplomats

The "strategic dialogue" that French President Emmanuel Macron is seeking to build with China, as well as his criticism of the United States and attempts to distance himself from its position, are causing concern among French diplomats.

According to Yevropeiska Pravda, this is stated in the publication Le Monde.

Employees of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs told the newspaper on condition of anonymity that Macron keeps them in the dark, trying to manage foreign policy on his own with the help of his own advisers.

"The president is doing what he wants, and people are tired of picking up the pieces and explaining... positions (Macron's - ed.) that they don't understand well," one of Le Monde's foreign ministry sources said.

Another source said that the French president took the foreign ministry by surprise with his comment during an interview on his return from China that the EU should not be guided by the United States on the Taiwan issue.

Macron's remarks aroused suspicions in the French Foreign Ministry that he was trying to "appease" China with a deal that would ignore Taiwan in exchange for Beijing's help in securing peace in Ukraine, Le Monde writes.

Against this backdrop, the French president's diplomatic adviser, Emmanuel Bonn, is reportedly scheduled to hold talks on Ukraine with Wang Yi, the head of the Foreign Affairs Bureau of the Chinese Communist Party Central Committee, a top Chinese diplomat, in the summer.

Unofficially, the Elysee Palace says that the talks between Bonn and Wang will be part of a regular dialogue between Paris and Beijing, the next round of which will provide an opportunity to "exchange views on ways to achieve peace while respecting the legitimate rights of Ukrainians."

Author - Serhii Kolomiets, 20/04/2023