France's President Macron says Europe must resist pressure to become America's 'followers'
Patrice Onwuka discusses Macron's calls to reduce dependency on the U.S.
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, took to Twitter early Wednesday morning to chastise President Biden and his foreign policy, which he claims led America’s oldest ally into the waiting arms of China’s Xi Jinping.
"Stunning," Cruz wrote in a tweet, sharing comments French President Emmanuel Macron made earlier in the day about China. During an interview, Macron called for France and Europe not to follow the U.S. example in defending Taiwan.
"Even the left-wing leaders of Europe — whom Biden has assiduously courted (and obsequiously a---kissed)—are openly screwing the U.S.," the Republican senator added. "Serious [Question]: could Biden possibly have screwed up foreign policy more?"
The Republican’s tweet came as Macron spent three days in China and echoed the Chinese government’s talking points on Taiwan.
Chinese President Xi Jinping and France's Emmanuel Macron attend a tea ceremony in Guangzhou, China, Friday, April 7, 2023. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus, Pool)
"The question we need to answer, as Europeans, is the following: is it in our interest to accelerate (a crisis) on Taiwan? No," he said during an interview in the Chinese southern city of Guangzhou. "The worst 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 his country and his neighbors risk getting "caught up in crises that are not ours."
"We, Europeans, must wake up. Our priority is not others' agendas in all regions of the world," Macron said in the interview.
Sen. Ted Cruz criticized French President Emmanuel Macron for his comments on the U.S., China and Taiwan. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
The French president’s remarks have been widely criticized.
Other U.S. lawmakers, including Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., asked in a video if Macron speaks for all of Europe, urging other European countries to make their intentions clear.
"If Macron speaks for all of Europe, and their position now is they’re not going to pick sides between the U.S. and China over Taiwan, maybe then we should not be taking sides either," Rubio said, referring to the U.S. aid in Ukraine as "spending a lot of taxpayer money on a European war."
Xi Jinping and Emmanuel Macron talk in the garden of the Guandong province governor's residence, in Guangzhou, China, Friday, April 7, 2023. (Jacques Witt, Pool via AP)
The Biden administration seemed to brush off any deeper meaning behind Macron’s comments and insisted the U.S. and France were in close cooperation.
TAIWAN RESIDENTS AGREE US WILL NOT COME TO THEIR AID IF CHINA INVADES, ARE DIVIDED ON THREAT LEVEL
White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Monday the two allied countries kept a "terrific bilateral cooperation" and operate in partnership to support Ukraine and ensure peace in the Indo-Pacific region.
"We’re focused on... making sure that together we’re meeting the national security requirements of both countries," Kirby said.
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Macron traveled from China to The Netherlands on Tuesday for a two-day state visit.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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