France rejects 'confrontation' in Asia: Macron

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
18 Nov 2022 09:08
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The French President urges Asian countries to join the "increasing consensus" against the Ukraine war.

French President Emmanuel Macron (AFP)

French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday urged an end to "confrontation" as he outlined his vision for France's engagement with the Asia-Pacific region.

Macron is attending the 21-strong Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Bangkok as he seeks to relaunch France's strategy for the region in light of growing US-China competition.

On the sidelines of the summit, the French leader told a gathering of business leaders that his country wants to play a stabilizing role in the region to avert confrontation.

"We don't believe in hegemony, we don't believe in confrontation, we believe in stability," Macron claimed.

He considered that regional powers including France -- which has overseas territories in the Indian and Pacific Oceans, including Reunion, New Caledonia, and French Polynesia -- should play a role.

"We are in the jungle and we have two big elephants, trying to become more and more nervous," Macron said in his speech.

"If they become very nervous and start war it will be a big problem for the rest of the jungle. You need cooperation of a lot of other animals: tigers, monkeys, and so on," he added.

Macron indicated that the international community was facing overlapping crises, from climate change to economic turmoil, and a coordinated response was needed.

"Our Indo-Pacific strategy is how to provide dynamic balance in this environment," he said.

"How to provide precisely a sort of stability and equilibrium which could not be the hegemony of one of those, could not be the confrontation of the two major powers."

Regarding the Ukraine war, which he identified as a major source of global instability, Macron said all countries in Asia and elsewhere needed to recognize their duty to act.

He urged Asian countries to join the "increasing consensus" against the Ukraine war, telling them that it was "your problem" too.

According to the French President, France was trying to "create an increasing consensus in order to say this war is also your problem because it will create a lot of destabilization."