During his six-day trip which includes stops in Indonesia and Singapore French President Emmanuel Macron will emphasize France’s respect for the sovereignty of Asian nations. He is scheduled to meet Vietnam’s top leadership on Monday in the capital, Hanoi, and with representatives of the energy sector on Tuesday.
Macron aims to promote France’s expertise in civilian nuclear energy in Vietnam and Indonesia—two countries expressing interest in this form of energy, though other countries such as Russia are also competing for potential deals. “The major challenges of this century… can only be met in cooperation with our partners,” Macron wrote on social media upon arriving in Hanoi.
“I am here to strengthen our ties in key areas: defense, innovation, energy transition, and cultural exchange. Wherever I go, I will say one simple thing: France is a power of peace and balance,” he said. “It is a reliable partner that believes in dialogue and cooperation. While some choose to withdraw, France chooses to build bridges.”
A “Counterbalance”
France’s willingness to engage strongly in Indo-Pacific geopolitics offers Vietnam a valuable “counterbalance” to China’s growing influence, said Nguyen Khac Giang, a visiting fellow at the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore.
In Indonesia, Macron is expected to meet ASEAN Secretary-General Kao Kim Hourn on Wednesday. A Macron aide stated the president is “supporting the idea of international trade rules—because we don’t want a jungle where the law of the strongest prevails.”
He added that Macron’s message is directed both at Washington, which is applying “extremely strong pressure” through tariffs, and at Beijing, which is becoming increasingly aggressive in trade and territorial disputes, particularly in the South China Sea. Prior to the trip, Macron held talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, where he called for “fair competition” between the two nations.
In Singapore, on Friday, Macron will deliver the opening speech at the Shangri-La Dialogue—the region’s largest forum on defense and security.
He is expected to stress that Russia’s war in Ukraine is destabilizing Asia by “causing North Korean soldiers to fight on European soil against Ukrainians and by supporting North Korea’s ballistic and nuclear programs,” the presidential aide said.
