French President Emmanuel Macron is on a two-day state visit to the Netherlands, where he is expected to deliver a keynote speech on the future of Europe.
The speech, to be held at a theater in The Hague, follows Macron’s controversial comments about Taiwan during his recent visit to China.
“The question we as Europeans must answer is this: is it in our interest to hasten (the crisis) in Taiwan? No,” Macron was quoted as saying in an interview published on Sunday by the French newspaper Les Echos et Politique Europe.
“The worst thing would be to think that we Europeans should become followers of this theme and take a cue from the US agenda and China’s overreaction.”
The remarks have raised questions about whether Macron’s views are in line with the European Union’s position and whether the 27 is capable of becoming the “third superpower” that Macron says he hopes to build within “several years.”
The interview took place on Friday, before China launched a large-scale combat exercise around Taiwan that simulated a blockade of the island in response to the Taiwanese president’s trip to the US last week.
Macron emphasized the concept of Europe’s “strategic autonomy” that he had been pushing for years. He warned of what he called a “trap” that would see the bloc “fall into crises that are not ours.”
China and Taiwan split in 1949 after a civil war. The government in Beijing says it is the responsibility of the island to reunite with the mainland, by force if necessary.
Macron’s trip to Amsterdam and The Hague is the first state visit by a French leader since Jacques Chirac 23 years ago and highlights the close ties between the Netherlands and France and the two leaders.
Upon arrival in Amsterdam, Macron and King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands inspected the guard of honor on the square in front of the capital’s royal palace, where a military band played, and the French and Dutch flags fluttered in the fresh breeze.
After the guard of honor and before Macron laid a wreath at the national monument outside the palace in the historic center of the city, a small group of people protesting Macron’s pension reform briefly held up a banner in French that read: “We will not be retired.”
Macron later travels to The Hague to meet with the leaders of both houses of the Dutch parliament before delivering a speech.
In the evening, Macron and his wife Brigitte return to Amsterdam for a banquet hosted by Willem-Alexander.
On Wednesday, Macron’s itinerary includes a visit to a science park in Amsterdam, talks with Prime Minister Mark Rutte and a blockbuster exhibition of paintings by Dutch master Johannes Vermeer at the Rijksmuseum.
