In front of the countries of the region, the head of state rejected “hegemony” and “confrontation” between states.
by Philippe Ricard (Bangkok (Thailand ), special envoy)
“You must ask yourself what a French president is doing there.” Emmanuel Macron quips this Friday, November 18, in Bangkok (Thailand), to justify his presence at the top of the APEC, the Asian economic cooperation forum -Pacific, which brings together around twenty countries, from China to the United States via Russia, Japan, Australia and Indonesia.
The big bosses to which the Head of State is addressed, in English, appreciate the joke. “Very honored”, the French president prides himself on being the first European leader invited by APEC, before joining his counterparts, including Chinese President, Xi Jinping, and the American vice-president, Kamala Harris, in the gigantic Congress palace of the Thai capital. France, he says, is “a country in the region”. And this invitation, estimates the Elysée, “validates the Indo-Pacific strategy launched in 2018”.
Beyond the heated debates of the G20 on the war in Ukraine, the Head of State took advantage of his visit to Bali, then to Bangkok, this week, to popularize as much as defending this approaching approach, in September 2021, by the scathing reverse suffered in Australia with the cancellation of the sale of twelve French conventional submarines, for the benefit of nuclear buildings promised by the United States and the United Kingdom. At the time, the emergence of the Aukus Alliance had sparked a serious crisis of confidence between Paris and its American, British and Australian allies, accused of “duplicity”. This moment of tension, quickly surmounted with Washington, had shaken the approach launched by Mr. Macron on a very safe basis, according to the arms contracts signed with Australia, India and Indonesia, for Provide them Rafale, submarines or other frigates.
In Bali, the head of state nevertheless maintained with the Australian Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, with whom France has been trying, since the election of the Labor Manager in May, to relaunch his “strategic” partnership. A few hours later, he recognized for the first time that Paris still aimed to sell submersibles to Australia. This offer “is known, it is still on the table,” he said, judging that “the British are unable” to provide competing devices and that the United States has “a busy ball book” . If Mr. Albanese does not intend to break the Aukus project, Mr. Macron would expect, in addition to it, that things are cleared, before considering a new visit to Australia, if possible in the coming months.
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