Shangri-La Dialogue: Macron seeks new EU-Asia alliance
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Macron Calls for Europe-Asia Alliance Amid Major Power Struggles
Macron accentuated the need for a ‘positive new alliance,’ emphasizing shared principles and norms between Europe and Asia. He called for action-driven coalitions to avoid being ‘collateral victims’ of superpower decisions.
Macron accentuated the need for a ‘positive new alliance,’ emphasizing shared principles and norms between Europe and Asia. Highlighting that the era for non-alignment is over, he called for action-driven coalitions to avoid being ‘collateral victims’ of superpower decisions, leaning on Europe’s aim for strategic autonomy.
With an Indo-Pacific presence, France seeks to protect regional partners from coercive control by revisionist nations. The event, which included US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, further stressed the need for increased defence spending among Asian nations, echoing NATO efforts. Notably absent was China’s Defence Minister, highlighting the ongoing diplomatic tensions.
‘Can’t become collateral victims of choices made by superpowers’: Macron pushes for Europe-Asia alliance
French President Emmanuel Macron will open the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore. He urged the leaders present at the conference to ‘build a positive new alliance between Europe and Asia, based on our common norms’ The annual event came at a time when Russia is relentlessly waging a war against Ukraine, defying international pressure. He also took the opportunity to send a message to North Korea via its ally China to stop sending forces to help Russia’s war in Ukraine if Beijing “doesn’t want NATO being involved in Southeast Asia or in Asia”
French President Emmanuel Macron will open the security conference in Singapore, where China’s assertiveness, Russia’s war on Ukraine, and conflicts in Asia will most likely be discussed. File image/AP.
French President Emmanuel Macron has called for stronger collaboration between Europe and Asia to fend off threats from countries like China and Russia that are seeking to build “spheres of coercion”.
Speaking at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, Macron said, “We have a challenge of revisionist countries that want to impose – under the name of spheres of influence – spheres of coercion.”
“Countries that want to control areas from the fringes of Europe to the archipelagos in the South China Sea… that want to appropriate resources, whether fishing or mineral and crowd out others for their benefit,” he added.
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The Shangri-La Dialogue is the biggest defence and security conference in Asia. The annual event came at a time when Russia is relentlessly waging a war against Ukraine, defying international pressure.
Macron’s speech came at the end of a tour of Vietnam, Indonesia and Singapore, which he used to present France as a reliable alternative for a region caught between Washington and Beijing.
Asian countries have found themselves torn between Washington’s tariff threats on one hand and Beijing, a major trading partner that has become increasingly forthright in territorial disputes in the South China Sea.
The French president urged the leaders present at the conference to “build a positive new alliance between Europe and Asia, based on our common norms, on our common principles”.
“Our shared responsibility is to ensure with others that our countries are not collateral victims of the imbalances linked to the choices made by the superpowers,” he said.
He also took the opportunity to send a message to North Korea via its ally China to stop sending forces to help Russia’s war in Ukraine if Beijing “doesn’t want NATO being involved in Southeast Asia or in Asia”.
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He warned Asian leaders against seeing the war in Ukraine as a distant problem with no relevance to them.
“If we consider that Russia could be allowed to take a part of the territory of Ukraine without any restriction, without any constraint, without any reaction of the global order, how would you phrase what could happen in Taiwan?” he said.
With inputs from agencies
French President Macron calls for Europe-Asia alliance to counter global ‘coercion’
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Shangri-La Dialogue: Macron seeks new EU-Asia alliance – DW – 05/30/2025
French President Emmanuel Macron has called for unity in the face of China-Russian desires to create “spheres of coercion” He delivered his plea at the Shangri-La Dialogue security conference in Singapore. His comments came as Moscow thumbs its nose at the West by ignoring international outcry and calls for an end to its invasion of Ukraine. There are also concerns that China may make good on its threat to take control of Taiwan as it continues to assert its strength in the South China Sea. He also used his speech to warn against complacency among those present when it comes to support for Ukraine, which many might think matters less to the region due to the fact that it may seem a far-away problem. He said: “Our shared responsibility is to ensure with others that our countries are not collateral victims of the imbalances linked to the choices made by the superpowers,” Macron said. The speech came on the heels of a tour of Indonesia, Vietnam and Singapore in which the French politician sought to present his country as a reliable defense and business partner.
French President Emmanuel Macron opened the Shangri-La Dialogue, an annual defense and security conference held in Singapore, with a keynote address on Friday that was laced with calls for European and Asian countries to form an alliance against what he described as “spheres of coercion” sought by some major powers — a veiled reference to China and Russia.
Macron’s comments came as Moscow thumbs its nose at the West by ignoring international outcry and calls for an end to its invasion of Ukraine, and concerns grow that China may make good on its threat to take control of Taiwan as it continues to assert its strength in the South China Sea.
“We have a challenge of revisionist countries that want to impose… under the name of spheres of influence… spheres of coercion,” said Macron.
“Countries that want to control areas from the fringes of Europe to the archipelagos in the South China Sea… that want to appropriate resources, whether fishing or mineral, and crowd out others for their benefit,” he continued.
Macron’s speech came on the heels of a tour of Indonesia, Vietnam and Singapore in which the French politician sought to present his country as a reliable defense and business partner for countries caught between the US and China.
Both Washington and Beijing have exasperated regional leaders who must navigate US President Donald Trump’s ceaseless tariff threats and Chinese President Xi Jinping’s carrot and stick approach to cooperation.
China threat set to dominate Singapore security talks To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video
Rising tension between the two has only made life more difficult for countries in the region, prompting Macron to urge countries to “build a positive new alliance between Europe and Asia, based on our common norms, on our common principles.”
“Our shared responsibility is to ensure with others that our countries are not collateral victims of the imbalances linked to the choices made by the superpowers,” Macron said.
The French president also used his speech to warn against complacency among those present when it comes to support for Ukraine, which many might think matters less to the region due to the fact that it may seem a far-away problem.
“If we consider that Russia could be allowed to take a part of the territory of Ukraine without any restriction, without any constraint, without any reaction of the global order,” he said, adding: “How would you phrase what could happen in Taiwan? What would you do the day something happens in the Philippines?”
Although regional democracies like Australia, Japan and South Korea have actively supported Ukraine, China and North Korea have helped keep Moscow’s war going with financial and material support — with Pyongyang even sending troops to the front lines.
EU seeks solid, amicable business and defense partnerships in Asia
France recently stressed the need to “preserve a rules-based international order” in the face of “China’s increasing power and territorial claims” and Beijing’s seesawing competition with the US in its latest Indo-Pacific strategy paper.
Although EU countries have tended to focus on their business ties to nations in the region, they have also participated in numerous freedom of navigation exercises in the face of China’s growing military assertiveness.
After meeting with Singapore Prime Minister Martin Wong earlier on Friday, Macron said: “We are neither China nor the US, we don’t want to depend on either of them.”
“We want to cooperate with both as far as we can, and we can cooperate for growth and prosperity and stability for our people and the world order, and I think this is exactly the same view of a lot of countries and a lot of people of this region,” he added.”
Wong agreed, saying, “We want to embrace comprehensive engagement with all parties and embrace win-win arrangements rather than zero-sum competition.”
China breaks tradition, sends low-level representatives to conference
The Shangri-La Dialogue, which is hosted by the International Institute for Security Studies (IISS) and runs through Sunday, was first held in 2002 and facilitates high-level meetings between defense ministers from across the globe.
It has also long been seen as a barometer for US-China relations. Moreover, it has offered a rare opportunity for US and Chinese defense ministers to meet face-to-face.
This year, however, Beijing has not dispatched its defense minister, but rather a senior official from the People’s Liberation Army’s National Defense University.
US-China tensions test ties between ASEAN members To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video
Concerns about US commitment to the Indo-Pacific
Leaders in the region have also been uneasy regarding US commitments since Donald Trump returned to office in January.
Not only has Trump turned global stock markets on their head as he pursues his trade war with Beijing, he has also punished allies in the region with massive tariffs as well. Furthermore, there is concern over Washington’s commitment to defend Taiwan.
Before departing for Singapore, US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth told reporters: “We seek no conflict with anybody, including the Communist Chinese. We will stay strong for our interests. And that’s a big part of what this trip is all about.”
The US views China’s failure to send high-level representatives as a potential opening, with Hegseth saying, “We can’t account for whether China engages or not. All we know is that we’re here. And we will be here.”
Who will blink first in US-China trade war? To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video
The trip is Hegseth’s second to the region since his appointment. In March, he traveled to the Philippines and Japan.
It is unclear if his visits will be enough to ease regional concerns over Trump’s willingness to stand by their side in the face of Chinese saber-rattling. The US leader has so far projected a straight-up transactional — if not to say coercive — approach to relations, as well as an attitude averse to foreign engagement despite Washington’s pursuit of a “free and open Indo-Pacific.”
US, China and Ukraine not the only security issues being discussed
Although Macron’s Friday speech emphasized the importance of European and Asian commitments to cooperation and unity when it comes to trade, defense and Ukraine, those are not the only issues that will be addressed at the three-day event.
Among the raft of other pressing issues the conference will address are the continuing civil war in Myanmar (ongoing since May 2021) and the outbreak of violence between Thailand and Cambodia this week in a border skirmish.
Perhaps gravest of all, however, is the flare-up in tensions between India and Pakistan in Kashmir.
Kashmir residents still wary of India-Pakistan ceasefire To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video
Although a truce has been declared in the current conflict between the nuclear-armed neighbors, dozens of people have been killed by gunfire, missile strikes and drone attacks as the two nations engage in their most serious military confrontation in decades.
Neither India nor Pakistan have sent defense ministers to Singapore, opting instead to dispatch senior military delegations. No meetings are scheduled to take place between the two.
Edited by: Zac Crellin