Emmanuel Macron’s diplomatic stalemate

2023-04-24 07:00:00

Reserved for subscribers

EDITORIAL. The President’s declarations in China are ruining his plan to refound the European Union around economic and security sovereignty.

By Nicolas Baverez

Chinese President Xi Jinping surrounded by Emmanuel Macron and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in Beijing on April 6, 2023.
© ZHAI JIANLAN / XINHUA / Xinhua via AFP

Published on 04/24/2023 at 07:00

Subscriber-only audio playback

En chaining a trip to China and a state visit to the Netherlands, Emmanuel Macron sought in activism on the international scene a way out of the crisis, both social and political, triggered by the pension reform. He succeeded only in adding a diplomatic rout to France’s deadlock. Sun Tzu points out in The art of War what “The great science is to make others want whatever you want them to do. And to provide him, without his realizing it, with all the means to assist you.. This is what Xi Jinping has masterfully achieved with Emmanuel Macron.

The Chinese president has rejected the naive request made to China to play a mediating role in the Ukrainian conflict, at a time when its strategic partnership with Moscow is…