Macron defends Taiwan comments, insists won't be US 'vassal'

French President Emmanuel Macron said on Wednesday (April 12) that being an ally of the United States did not mean being a "vassal". Macron recently faced criticism after he gave a controversial interview on the subject of Taiwan.

At the end of a state visit to the Netherlands, the French president told a press conference in Amsterdam that "Being an ally does not mean being a vassal." Defending his comments, Macron said that it "doesn't mean that we don't have the right to think for ourselves".

Macron, who last week visited China, said French and European policy on Taiwan had said that Europe should not be a "follower" of either Washington or Beijing and it must avoid getting caught up in any escalation.

Macron said that France's and Europe's policy related to Taiwan "has not changed" and added that "France is for the status quo in Taiwan" and a "peaceful resolution to the situation".

China labelled Macron's interview as "brilliant", on the other hand, the West slammed it, with former US president Donald Trump saying that "Macron, who's a friend of mine, is over with China, kissing his ass".

Dutch premier Rutte said he agreed with Macron that Europe "must be a player and not a playing field", but insisted that Washington remained an "essential partner when it comes to security and freedom". Rutte meanwhile said of the protests targeting Macron that "we are the hosts so you don't want that".

On being asked about it, Macron said that he had "nothing to say about the comments by former president Trump because he is taking part in this escalation".

Self-ruled Taiwan considers itself a distinct nation from China, but Beijing claims Taipeias its own territory since the Chinese civil war of the 1940s.

China believes that the island nation will defy China's one-nation policy by pushing for formal independence. Beijing even claimed that, in case needed, it will use force to unite the two territories.

(With inputs from agencies)

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