Chernega Vladimir Nikolaevich – Sc.D. in Law, Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Envoy, Chief Researcher, INION RAS
Since the establishment of diplomatic relations with the PRC in 1964, French presidents have considered these relations as a factor expanding Paris’s ability to maneuver in the international arena. Deng Xiaoping’s reforms made China an attractive economic partner. However, as China’s economic power and its influence in the world grew, France’s policy in this area became increasingly contradictory. On the one hand, French diplomacy made efforts to promote the interests of national business in the Chinese market. On the other hand, pressure from the United States, which views China as the main rival in the struggle for world leadership and seeks to rally European allies on confrontational course, as well as Beijing’s activity in Indo-Pacific region (IPR), Africa (in particular, in the former French colonies), and alleged «disloyal competition» in trade from Chinese businesses encouraged Paris to participate in the «containment» of China under the pretext that the rise of the PRC posed a danger to the «liberal international order». E. Macron, who came to power in 2017 and was re-elected for a second term in 2022, also operates within this contradictory approach. But he brought into it a certain specificity related to the key element of his foreign policy concept – the idea of transforming the EU into a «European power». Hence the attempts to promote a «common European policy» towards China, including within the framework of the IPR. However, this attitude only aggravated the contradictory nature of France’s policy towards China. In addition, the cooling of relations in the Franco-German tandem, the «engine» of European integration, has reduced Paris’s ability to influence EU policy. Overall, France is increasingly drawn into the «containment» of China within the framework of «Western solidarity».
France, China, cooperation, «containment», EU, Indo-Pacific region, US confrontational course, «Western solidarity», contradictory policy.
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