In Vietnam, Emmanuel Macron presents France as a third way – Liberation

Why not France? Emmanuel Macron praised the merits of the country of human rights as a reliable alternative for the countries of Southeast Asia, During his tour Started this Monday, May 26 in Vietnam. The French president recalled his commitment to a world order « Based on law » Since Vietnam, a region vulnerable to the rise of trade frictions between the United States and China.

The head of state spoke of « Large imbalances » And « The return of discourse of powers or intimidation », impose on acting « together » For « Preserve an order based on law, a condition sine qua not to prosperity », In front of his Vietnamese counterpart Luong Cuong. In fact, the leader presented France as a reliable alternative to Vietnam, caught up between Washington, which threatens to impose a prohibitive surcharge on Vietnamese exports for the American market, and Beijing, His longtime ally with which Hanoi shares territorial disputes at the South China Sea.

In Vietnam, this posture of « Balance power » can find an echo: the country itself takes care to keep a certain balance in its relations with China and the United States, in order to maximize its commercial interests, in what it calls its « Bamboo diplomacy ».

These issues will accompany Emmanuel Macron throughout his visit to Southeast Asia, with planned stops in Indonesia and Singapore this week. Arrived Sunday evening in Hanoi with his wife Brigitte Macron, the leader insisted on the common vision shared with Vietnam, country of 100 million inhabitants with dynamic growth, which shares a often painful colonial past with Paris.

Some thirteen agreements were signed this Monday, notably on nuclear energy, a crucial sector for the Asian country depending on fossil fuels and which seeks to meet the growing needs of its population, as well as in transport and satellites. The low-cost company Vietjet Air has also announced to order for 20 Gros-Porter Airbus A330-900 planes, which are added to a first similar contract of 20 aircraft spent last year with the European aeronautical giant. « It is indeed a new page which is written between our two countries (…) an will to write an even more ambitious page of the relationship between Vietnam and France, between ASEAN and the European Union », insisted Emmanuel Macron.

After a tribute in the morning in memory of the fighters of the Indochina War Who fought from 1946 to 1954 against France, for independence, Emmanuel Macron met his Vietnamese counterpart Luong Cuong. The head of state, of which it is the first visit to Vietnam, must be received later by the secretary general of the Communist Party To Lam, which he himself welcomed in Paris in October.

The party leader, with whom he will have lunch at the Temple of Literature, a monument dedicated to Confucius and emblematic place of Vietnamese culture, is considered the most powerful leader in the country, where rights organizations denounce an increased repression of any critical voice of power.

Human Rights Watch alerted Emmanuel Macron to a letter last week, asking him to « Press » publicly on the Vietnamese government so that it « Libes undoubtedly all persons detained for exercising their rights to freedom of expression, association, religion and meeting ». Such an arrest is not in the uses of the French president who regularly claims to evoke these subjects sensitive to camera. Especially since in Vietnam, the Elysée hopes « Strengthen cooperation in strategic sectors such as energy, transport and defense ».

And the head of state intends to hammer his offer of « Third way » To this Asian-Pacific country particularly exposed to Sino-American competition. « Vietnam is really on the first line of all the tensions that grow in the southern China Sea », Where Beijing is becoming more and more offensive in its territorial claims, slips a senior official of French diplomacy. But he is also in full negotiations to try to escape to the strong customs tax of 46 % imposed Then suspended by Donald Trump, while the United States is the largest export market in the Vietnamese manufacturing industry.

Stone in 2018, already praised in multiple trips to India, the Pacific Ocean or in the Indian Ocean, the « Indo-pacific strategy » Emmanuel Macron consists in offering a third way to countries in the region. And according to Paris, she finds all her relevance since Donald Trump’s return to the White House with his business war threats.

In a more or less subliminal way, the French president should have a message for everyone. For the American president, by defending the « International trade rules » rather than the law of « jungle »according to one of his advisers. For his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, which he called before his departure to guarantee a « Fair competition »hammering that France is a partner « respectful » of « Sovereignty » countries in the region.

And also for the Russian president Vladimir Putin, by affirming to countries like Vietnam or Indonesia, long turned towards Moscow, in particular for their armaments, but who seek to diversify their suppliers, that Russia, by the war which it waged in Ukraine with the support of North Korean soldiers, « Destabilizes Asia » and not only Europe.