French Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire said today that his country is a “stable and reliable ally” of the US, but that it is also in talks with China, following controversial remarks by French President Emmanuel Macron.

“We intend to remain firm and reliable allies of the United States of America. There should be no misunderstandings about that,” said Lemaire, who was in Washington for the spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

Lemaire also said that France and Europe want to pursue an independent political path from the US and China, but want to be “strong and reliable allies of the US”.

“Before going to China, President Macron called President Biden to really coordinate the positions of the US and France vis-à-vis China,” the minister underlined, stressing that there was great coordination between Paris and Washington in their positions on the country she and that the US, France and Europe have a “coordinated approach” to relations with China.

Macron sparked backlash in the US and Europe by calling on the European Union not to be a “follower” of Washington or Beijing on the Taiwan issue, statements interpreted as a distancing from US policy.

When asked about this, Lemaire said it was a priority to “ask China to stop the escalation in Taiwan”.

Regarding the economy, Lemaire deplored the fact that “some (…) in the United States think that the economies of Western countries — American and European — and China should be completely decoupled,” while “the volume of trade between China and the US has never been so high.”

Exports and imports of goods and services between the US and China reached their highest level in 2022, according to data from the US Commerce Department.

Lemaire also considers it necessary to continue to ask for China’s involvement, whether it is not selling arms to Russia, fighting climate change or restructuring the debt of poor countries, of which Beijing is one of the biggest creditors. . “We want China’s participation because we strongly believe that the best way to get concrete results from China’s relationship is with China’s participation,” he stressed.

When asked about Macron’s comments in an interview with Politico, in which the French president called on the European Union to reduce its dependence on the United States and warned against being drawn into a crisis over Taiwan, Lemaire said the dispute it was “much ado about nothing” because the French president has supported such an approach for years.

“We want Europe to be dominant. I mean in terms of geopolitics, industry, technology, we want Europe to be more independent,” Lemaire said. “This has been at the core of French politics for more than six years.”

Lemaire said Macron asked China to put more emphasis on dialogue on issues related to Taiwan. “We ask China to de-escalate” its military actions around Taiwan, he said.