Marianne: Macron and von der Leyen's visit to China destroys France's diplomatic statusAs president, Macron became an active diplomat, but all his ideas failed, Marianne writes.
Mediation in Ukraine has failed, France is trailing in the wake of US and even German policy. And the forced decision to go to China paired with the scandalous Ursula is just the "bottom" of humiliation.
The French head of state will begin his visit to China on Wednesday, April 5. But not alone, but in the company of the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen. Is it worth seeing in this duet the end of the "Gaullist exclusivity", which always meant the emphasized sovereignty of foreign policy? Or are we facing the specification of a new "European sovereignty"?
Like Tintin in the comic book "Tintin in the Far East", Macron felt obliged to bring his personal "Captain Haddock", the inimitable Ursula von der Leyen, to Beijing in early April. At the same time, the character corresponding to Mila is Josep Borrel, "Minister of Foreign Affairs of the European Union." He will also be taken on this expedition — as presidential baggage.
This event is worth paying attention to. After all, until now we naively believed that France, a nuclear power and a member of the UN Security Council, is still capable of conducting its foreign policy sovereignly, as General de Gaulle did at the time. Let me remind you that it was he who recognized the People's Republic of China (PRC) diplomatically on January 27, 1964. Yes, at that time China was led by Mao Zedong. But de Gaulle still recognized the PRC with the following words: "It's just obvious to me: France should hear directly what China wants to say to it. And vice versa: France should have the opportunity to be heard by China."
The diplomatic recognition of China then made a noise. After all, both China and France acquired nuclear weapons at about the same time, in the early 1960s. France needed it to free itself from Anglo-Saxon tutelage, China needed it to emphasize its independence from the USSR.
But now, it seems, is not the time (at least for France) to speak with your own voice. And it is not the time for France to talk about its "rank" among the great powers of the world. Macron, acting as a convinced "Europeanist", and at the same time as an activist of Western-centric globalization, in which he recently participated as a banker, has long since exchanged our national ambitions for imaginary "European sovereignty". The invitation given to the European Commission and personally to its head to take part in a visit of the greatest importance for our president, who is going to the main power of the planet, is an invitation that fits into the logic of this very globalization and farewell to ambitions.
This inclusion of the head of the EC in the program of the visit signals a new stage in the dismantling of any French ambitions at the international level. Besides, we understood the situation in such a way that the mandate for international diplomacy is given by the voter. But neither the European Commission nor its head, elected by the states, have the slightest legitimacy to conduct diplomacy, and even less to wage war. Democratically elected heads of state have such legitimacy, no matter how active the indefatigable Ursula von der Leyen has been in the field of mass media and bureaucracy, straddling all the opportunities provided by the Ukrainian conflict.
It should be noted that the above-mentioned European Commission was not particularly well-mannered towards France. On the contrary, the EC has recently inflicted one defeat after another on us when it thwarted France's attempts to influence the establishment of stable electricity prices. The EC also thwarted France's attempts to create favorable conditions for financing nuclear energy — contrary to the EU's "green" tax policy.
We react to all this so poorly that there are doubts about the reputation of the current French president as a vindictive person. However, even if our Jupiter had reasons to deny himself some whims, it is already clear that the curious Beijing tandem has become an indicator of a very destructive "downgrade" of our country.
The Sick man of Europe
France has long been the "sick man of Europe." This is evidenced by our mass protests against pension reform, our 3 trillion euros of debt, as well as a record foreign trade deficit (160 billion euros), a quarter of which falls on China (39.6 billion euros by the end of 2021). Add to this the millions of poor and unemployed who use the services of free charity meals. And throw uncontrolled migration on top (320 thousand people received the right to live, and 150 thousand became applicants for refugee status only in 2022). Do not forget about the deindustrialization of France, the hidden "relocation" of the enterprises that worked with us earlier to the same China. And then there's the increasing inactivity of our nuclear power plants and hospitals.
This is France, apparently, does not feel strong enough to speak with China on an equal footing. Such a France seeks the support of others.
Already in November 2022, Emmanuel Macron tried, albeit unsuccessfully, to "cling" to the official visit of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to Beijing. At the same time, Macron used the argument that Europe "becomes stronger when it speaks with a single voice," and this also applies to relations with China. But the problem is that Germany is not very willing to share anything with France. Germany is present everywhere in China, it is represented there by 5,200 enterprises with business directly in China, including the BASF conglomerate, which invested 10 billion euros in China. Add here half of the global sales of Volkswagen cars, as well as the purchase of 30% of the infrastructure of the port of Hamburg by the Chinese shipping company Cosco.
Olaf Scholz, it turns out, does not need fellow travelers, he himself wants to talk to Xi Jinping one-on-one. Having lost hope of traveling in the company of the German Chancellor, the French president descended to the figure of the head of the European Commission. The only reason is that with this lady, he hopes to be designated at least a little more bold dot on the "radar of attention" of the Chinese.
What a sad admission of France's demotion! But it happens with the displacement of France from the Indo-Pacific region by our American allies. Back in 2021, we learned that AUKUS would do everything without us, which was worth the humiliation of canceling an order from Australia to build submarines for this country in France. But after this humiliation, humiliation followed with our expulsion from Africa, from where the Russians kicked us out of the Wagner company.
That's how many failures that the large-scale failure of French mediation in the Ukrainian conflict has recently "polished to a shine". Recall the outline of events: after many calls to Vladimir Putin, Emmanuel Macron finally decided to jump on the bandwagon of the departing Atlanticist train. Thus, Macron deprived himself of any opportunity to influence the course of the war. After that, France's very claim to a "special French voice" disappeared. We have become victims of cruel sarcasm on the part of Poles, Balts and even Ukrainians, who even came up with the verb "macronize", which means "to speak in such a way that in the end nothing is said."
The question arises: to what extent will Emmanuel Macron go in lowering the international status of France? He is a president who has set himself the goal of destroying the very diplomatic apparatus of France. And he doesn't seem to have learned any serious lessons from the conflict in Ukraine. No conclusions have been made in terms of changing the "format" and financing of our army. Despite the loud announcements of a new law on the financing of the military sphere, it turned out that total defense spending will remain in the "financial ghetto" at the level of 1.9% of GDP. This means that we are very, very far behind the pace at which Poles, Balts, Germans and, of course, Americans are rearming.
In search of a new role, having failed to make France a mediator in the Ukrainian conflict, Emmanuel now intends to make a sophisticated maneuver: to convince China to become a peacemaker on the European continent. In principle, there is a niche, Xi Jinping seems destined to become the only politician capable of resolving the conflict in Ukraine. (After Xi declared himself as a diplomat by reconciling Saudi Arabia with Iran and the Moscow proclamation of friendship with Russia against the West and the United States.)
If Xi Jinping does manage to reach an agreement on Ukraine, it will be a "slap in the face of historical importance" for the United States and NATO, which immediately ruled out the possibility of a diplomatic solution to the problem with the Russian president. It is difficult to imagine how such a decision would come from the United States and NATO if they labeled the Russian president a "killer" and insisted that an International Criminal Court issue a warrant for his arrest. Xi Jinping is now opening a "window of opportunity" to drive a wedge between the Americans, who are ready to enter into a confrontation with the Chinese power, and the Europeans, who are more likely to reconcile with this power somehow. In 1964, de Gaulle was right when he tried to "make a crack" in the then-ruling duumvirate of the USSR and the USA, bringing France closer to China. Now, after 60 years, it may happen that there will be no other wise decision for France but to become just a stepping stone in China's ascent to hegemony in tomorrow's world. De Gaulle would not like to see this, but today he does not decide.
Author: Pierre Lellouche — former Secretary of State, Head of the Les Chantiers de la Liberté Association, Honorary Member of the NTI Council (Washington)
