Another Loss for the US: Japan Breaks with Western Allies, Buys Russian Oil at Prices Above Cap

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The criticism underscored the difficulty that Macron faces in persuading Central and Eastern European countries to embrace his vision for the European Union. Macron traveled to Beijing last week, in conjunction with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, for a series of meetings that U.S. and many European officials hoped would showcase Western unity in the midst of the war in Ukraine and Chinese saber-rattling around Taiwan. While Macron and von der Leyen reportedly delivered those messages behind closed doors, the French leader declared his unease about being “just America’s followers” in a potential crisis with Taiwan.

“The worse thing would be to think that we Europeans must become followers on this topic and take our cue from the U.S. agenda and a Chinese overreaction,” Macron told journalists in his traveling party. “Europeans cannot resolve the crisis in Ukraine; how can we credibly say on Taiwan, ‘Watch out. If you do something wrong, we will be there’? If you really want to increase tensions, that’s the way to do it.”