天天看热讯：Europe leaders' 'independent' stand comes as no surprise

RegionalcountriesdonotwanttogetlockedintoUSpositions,expertsays

France"sPresidentEmmanuelMacronoranyoftheotherWesternEuropeanleaderssayingtheEuropeancountriesshouldnotbe"Americanfollowers"isnotsurprising,anexpertintheUnitedStateshassaid.

"BecausethefactofthematteristheEuropeansarenotmajorsecurityplayersinthe"Indo-Pacific"ortheAsia-PacificandintheTaiwanStrait,"saidSourabhGupta,aseniorfellowattheInstituteforChina-AmericaStudiesinWashington."TheyareverymarginalplayersintheAsia-Pacificsecurityarchitecture."

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MacronstatedinaninterviewonApril7whilereturningfromhisstatevisittoChinathatEuropeneedstodecreaseitsrelianceontheUSandsteerclearofbeingdraggedintotheconflictbetweenChinaandtheUSregardingtheTaiwanquestion.

Macronemphasizedhisvisionof"strategicautonomy"forEurope,withFrancepresumablyhighlightingthatEurope"s"greatrisk"isbecomingentangledincrisesthatarenotitsown,hinderingitsabilitytoestablishstrategicautonomy.

"MrMacronwasspeakingprimarilyonTaiwan.Hehasspoken,andtheEuropeanshavespokenwithregardtostrategicautonomyinabroadercontextalso,"Guptasaid.

"MacronwasjuststatingtheobviousthatFranceandEuropeneedtohaveanindependentpositiononTaiwan,particularlyifthereisaconflict,andthatFranceandEuropeshouldnotbeaddingtothetensionsorfanningtheflamesoftensionsrelatedtothe"Indo-Pacific"andrelatedtotheTaiwanStrait."

Guptaaddedthathewas"shocked"bythereactionsofsomeUSandotherWesternpress."It"ssurprisinghoweverybodythinksthatWesternEuropehasbecomeacampfolloweroftheUSwithregardtoChina,onaTaiwanStraitcrisisparticularly,whichisnotthecaseandhasnotbeenthecase."

InGupta"sview,Francestandsoutasuniquebecauseitiswillingtotakestrongpositionsonstrategicautonomyandhasdonesohistorically.Butitisnottheonly"independent-minded"WesternEuropeancountry,eveniftheymaynotstateitasstronglyandpublicly.They"needtohaveanindependentpositioninthisregardandtrytobeonthesideofpeaceanddiplomacy".

"TheotherWesternEuropeancountrieshaveveryroughlysimilarpositions,"Guptasaid."Theydon"twanttoantagonizetheUnitedStates,butthatdoesn"tmeantheyarecampfollowersoftheUnitedStates.

"AndtheywouldmuchpreferthatEuropehasapositionthatissomewhatdissociatedfromtheAmericanpositionvis-a-visChinabecauseAmericaisframingeveryissuevis-a-visChinainzero-sumterms.AndtheywanttokeepopenthescopeandspaceforcooperationwithChinaonmultiplefronts—environmentalpolicy,digitalpolicy,trade,andeconomicpolicy."Guptagaveanexample:ThedigitalpoliciesoftheEuropeanUnionandChinahaveagreatamountofharmonyandoverlap.

AccordingtoGupta"sanalysis,theUSdealingwithrelationswithChinainzero-sumtermsendsupforcingEuropeanstohavetochoosebetweentheUSandChina.

Europeanshavebeenabletocreateaveryintegratedandinterdependentcommunityofstatesoverthelast50years,sorecoursetoviolentmeansissomethingintheconductofdiplomacythattheyfrownupon,Guptasaid.

"Theypreferintegratedsolutionswhichbringpeopletogetherandeconomiestogether.AndtotheextentthattheUSpositionsonmanyoftheseissuesaremuchmorebellicose,muchmorewarlike,muchmoredependentondecouplingratherthancoupling.

"ItcreatesadilemmaforEurope."

Ahugegap

HesaidEuropeansareseeingahugegapwiththeUSopeninginenvironment,digital,trade,andeconomics,andinflashpointconflictissueswheretheirpositionsareverydifferentoratleasttherearelargegaps.

HealsosaidtheUSisbecomingprotectionistandpopulistinsomeways,andgettingisolationist.Besides,"theUnitedStateshasforsometimenowbeguntousemilitarytoolstoofrequentlytoresolveissues".

"They(Europeancountries)don"twanttogetlockedintoUSpositionsandbepartofalargerWesterncampandbetakenforgranted,especiallywhentheyarea$15-trillioneconomicactorandhavepowerandcanusetheinfluencethatcomesfromthatpower,"Guptasaid."AndIthinkthisisthemaindriverforstrategicautonomyoratleastacertainstrategicdifferenceinapproachfromhowtheUSapproachesmanyoftheseissues."

OtherobservershavealsorecognizedandnoteddifferencesbetweenthepositionsoftheUSandEuropeonChina.

ElbridgeColby,aseniorPentagonofficialofformerpresidentDonaldTrumpadministration,said:"TheEuropeansareprettyopenlysendingthesignalthatthey"renotwillingtowageeconomicwarfareagainstChina.Ithinkthe(US)administrationthinksEuropeanswouldhaveourbackintheeventofaconflict,butthatwon"thappen."

TaraVarma,avisitingfellowfromFranceonforeignpolicyattheBrookingsInstitutioninWashington,said,"There"sasensethereneedstobeaclearEuropeanpositiononChinathatgoesbeyondthetrans-Atlanticrelationshipandexistsonitsownmerits."ShealsocommentedthatMacron"srecentvisittoChinaisastarttotheconversationbetweenFranceandChina.

TherehasbeenaflurryoftripstoBeijingbyseniorEuropeanofficialsinrecentmonths.FromApril13to15,EU"stopforeignaffairsofficialJosepBorrelljoinedastrategicdialoguewithChineseofficialsinBeijing.EuropeanCommissionPresidentUrsulavonderLeyenmadeavisittoChinafromApril5to7,atthesametimeasMacron,andtheyhavesomeoverlappingschedules.

GuptasaidtheEUandChinamayhavebeeninapositiontoreengagesinceCOVID-19came.AndRussia"sspecialmilitaryoperationinUkraine"putadampener"onEU-Chinarelations,atleastforaperiodoftime.AndthesevisitsofEuropeanleaderssincetheendoflastyearwere"veryimportant"andshowedthatEU-Chinarelationsweremovingforwardonagoodtrack.

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