At a press conference with the Prime Minister of the Netherlands during his trip to Amsterdam, the President confirmed that being an “ally” of the United States does not mean being a “vassal” and “that we don’t ‘have no more right to think for themselves,’ after the president’s controversial remarks on the subject. “France is for the status quo in Taiwan,” it “supports the one-China policy and the search for a peaceful settlement of the situation,” he added.

Earlier on Wednesday, a French diplomatic source had confirmed that France is a “reliable” ally of the United States, but claims not to be a “follower”. “We are not following the United States for a simple reason which is that the president wants European sovereignty”, underlined this source. “We are allies of the United States, reliable, solid, committed allies, but we are allies who decide for ourselves,” she said.

Emmanuel Macron sparked a wave of misunderstanding in the United States and Europe by calling on the EU not to “follow” Washington or Beijing on the Taiwan issue.

“The worst thing would be to think that we Europeans should follow” on the Taiwan question “and adapt to the American rhythm and a Chinese overreaction”, he said in an interview with the American site Politico and in the French business daily Les Échos published on Sunday.

Remarks immediately interpreted as a distancing from Washington while the United States has also been very committed to Ukraine since the start of the Russian offensive. “The President of the Republic fully assumes his point,” insisted the diplomatic source.

France is not uninterested in the tensions around Taiwan, she insisted, while China has conducted military exercises to put pressure on the island. Beijing had perceived last week’s meeting between Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen and Kevin McCarthy, the third figure in the US government, as a threat.

“The president didn’t say we wouldn’t care about Taiwan’s security, didn’t say we wouldn’t be there to defend an open Indo-Pacific,” the diplomatic source said. A French frigate also crossed the Taiwan Strait just as China was conducting its exercises, she said.

The president’s remarks were also seen as placing the primary responsibility for tensions in the region on the Americans. “The head of state knows Joe Biden doesn’t want war,” the French diplomatic source fired back. When visiting China last week, “Xi Jinping told him he was for a peaceful solution and was in no rush for Taiwan,” she added.

Paris also deplored Donald Trump’s “foul words” to Emmanuel Macron after his visit to China. “Macron, who is a friend, is with China licking his ass,” said the former US president.

During a “nice visit” in 2019 to the Forbidden City, “Donald Trump had a phrase ‘I can not blame China’,” the critical diplomatic source said.