Biden holds first call with Macron after China visit, 'vassal' comments

By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON (AA) - President Joe Biden held the first telephone call with his French counterpart Thursday after Emmanuel Macron suggested Europe needs to establish "strategic autonomy" from its longtime ally.

During their conversation the leaders "discussed President Macron’s recent travel to the People's Republic of China and their ongoing efforts to advance prosperity, security, shared values, and the rules-based international order in the Indo-Pacific region," the White House said.

"They reaffirmed the importance of maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait," it said in a statement. "The Presidents also reiterated their steadfast support for Ukraine in the face of Russia's brutal aggression."

Shortly after he returned from a visit to China lauded by many in Beijing, Macron said earlier this month, “France has no lessons to take from anyone, neither on Ukraine, nor on Sahel or Taiwan."

Macron stressed that Europe should not blindly follow the US into a rising dispute with China over Taiwan. Being an ally does not mean being a "vassal," he said, or being dragged into disputes in which Europeans do not want to get involved.

The remarks are widely seen as a slight to the US amid historically high tensions with China, and have drawn concern that China may be gaining ground with one of the US's most important European allies.

Macron has faced mounting pressure from nationwide protests against his reform of France's retirement system, which includes raising the retirement age from 62 to 64 by 2030, and requiring at least 43 years of work to be eligible for a full pension. Workers and trade unions among others have vehemently opposed the plan.

Unrest intensified when Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne, after consulting with Macron, decided to use special constitutional powers to adopt the bill without parliamentary approval in March.

Recent polling from Paris Match has shown far-right nationalist leader Marine Le Pen now being more popular than the French president in a sign of the domestic blows he is taking over his retirement overhaul.