Chinese press doubts U.S.-French relations

BEIJING – The well-known Chinese tabloid Global Times writes that the excessive pomposity at French President Emmanuel Macron’s reception in the United States does not correspond to the true relationship between Paris and Washington

“Macron’s reception was superb. Maine lobster, Oregon blue cheese were served for dinner, and an honor guard greeted the leader dressed in 18th-century uniforms (…) This contrasts sharply with the disagreements between the U.S. and France on various issues and criticism of the U.S. that Macron made before the trip,” the author notes.

The article points out that relations between the two countries are going through a serious crisis. At the same time, the US has neither the desire nor the ability to bring them back to the previous level. “France, like the EU as a whole, should oppose, protest and boycott the U.S., which seriously violates WTO principles,” the author believes.

The columnist recalled that in addition to the controversy over the Inflation Reduction Act, the inflation law that has raised various controversies, Washington also dealt a blow to Paris a year ago when, because of Biden’s policies, Australia abandoned a multibillion-dollar deal with France.

Latvia v. Macron: he fell into Moscow’s trap.
PARIS-Criticism of Emmanuel Macron from Latvia’s defense minister, who said the French president fell “into the trap set for him by Moscow.”

Artis Pabriks thus commented on Macron’s statement that in order to bring the war in Ukraine to an end it would be necessary to provide Russia with guarantees on its security. According to the Latvian minister, quoted by Rai news, this means falling into the trap of Putin’s narrative that the West and Ukraine are responsible for the war.