While it is true that Macron has an independent streak to him (his advocacy for European Strategic autonomy) and a legitmitate beef with the Anglo-saxons (AUKUS nuclear submarine deal) I still would not trust him. When a push comes to shove, he will be forced to side with the U.S. like the rest of Europe. IMO Chinese attempts to make Europe see the light are futile and I don't think China should spend too much energy and resources on it. Europe is simply a lost cause. They have been on their knees for so long that they forgot what standing up feels like.
Take the long view.
It is what Lee Kwan Yui said back in the day when he was still alive.
The Vietnam War was a catalyst for the ASEAN region as they learned how to repair ships, and with the war, the Americans were everywhere in the region, and spreading some military money here and there. That gave them a good push forward for ASEAN economically speaking.
Back then, there was Clark Air Force Base in the Philippines and Subic Bay Naval Base in the Philippines, that used to be the largest US bases in the world outside of the US mainland. There was also the deep water port of Cam Ranh Bay, where the US Navy was.
On the map, the US Navy owned the South China Sea most of it back during the Vietnam War.
China was an undeclared enemies to most ASEAN states.
Who has control of the South China Sea today?
What is relationships between ASEAN and China today?
It is the total opposite of 30 years ago. In fact 10 years ago it was already the total opposite. That much in 20 years. To make a long story short.
This happen in my lifetime. It may be surprising in hindsight, but every step of the way, every new event or agreement, paved the road to where we are today.
To say China and France cannot improve relations because they are a vassal, is to close the door to the future of any possibility of change.
To me, I have to raise an objection, because I have feudal mentality, and this is anti-Chinese, it is anti-Confucian.
The I-Ching, aka the Book of Changes, one of the Confucian classics. I don't understand, except one thing. In the very front, it says,
the only constant is change.
