French President Emmanuel Macron has urged Europe to reduce its dependence on the "extraterritoriality of the U.S. dollar" and abstain from getting involved in any potential confrontation between the U.S. and China regarding Taiwan.
After his three-day trip to China and spending approximately six hours with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, Macron spoke with two French journalists and Politico, emphasizing his "strategic autonomy" concept for Europe. He expressed his concern that the region might become involved in crises that are not its own, which would hinder its development.
The 45-year-old president's call for European nations to reduce their reliance on the greenback is a stance that both Beijing and Moscow firmly endorse.
The status of the U.S. dollar as the world's reserve currency — a position it has held since the end of World War II — is being called into question due to the recent actions of several nations, including China, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Brazil, Iran and even France.
Reports have also emerged that Saudi Arabia is in talks with Beijing about pricing some of its oil sales in yuan instead of the dollar.
Last month, the government of Brazil announced a deal with China to trade in their own currencies, bypassing the use of the U.S. dollar as an intermediary. Under this agreement, the Chinese yuan will be exchanged directly with Brazilian reais rather than converted to the dollar.
This move followed China's first purchase of liquefied natural gas through the yuan, which involved a shipment of approximately 65,000 tons of LNG sourced from the United Arab Emirates, negotiated by China National Offshore Oil Corp. and France's TotalEnergies through the Shanghai Petroleum and Natural Gas Exchange.
In recent years, the U.S. has imposed sanctions on countries such as Russia, China and Iran, which prevent them from accessing the dominant dollar-denominated global financial system. This has caused concerns in Europe, with some accusing the U.S. of "weaponizing" the dollar and forcing European companies to sever ties with third countries or face harsh secondary sanctions.
Macron did not mention the issue of ongoing U.S. security assurances for Europe, which has depended on U.S. defense support since the end of World War II.
Macron warns Europe against following U.S. agenda on China, Taiwan
Macron's idea of strategic autonomy has gained strong support from Xi Jinping and the Chinese Communist Party, who frequently mention it in discussions with European nations.
Per Politico, Chinese leaders and theorists maintain that the West is on a downward trend and China is on the rise. Therefore, they see the weakening of the transatlantic relationship as a way to expedite this power shift.
China conducted military exercises near Taiwan on Saturday in response to Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen's meeting with U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
The Chinese government considers Taiwan part of its territory and has always retained the right to use force to seize the island. The latter, however, vehemently opposes China's claims.
Considering those factors, Macron warned that in the event of an escalation of tensions between the U.S. and China, Europe would not have the necessary resources or time to support its strategic autonomy and would instead become subservient to the former.
"The worse thing would be to think that we Europeans must become followers on this topic and take our cue from the U.S. agenda and a Chinese overreaction," Macron said.
During a speech to French expatriates residing in China, Macron said he planned to "try to build, and somehow engage China toward a shared responsibility for peace and stability on international issues" such as Ukraine, Iran and North Korea.
He was joined by European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen on his Beijing trip.