French President Emmanuel Macron arrived in Vietnam on Sunday for the first foot of a Southeast Asia journey, where he will pitch his nation as a credible alternative companion to the United States and China. During his six-day trip, which includes Indonesia and Singapore, Macron may illustrate his regard for the independence of Eastern nations” caught between the United States and China”, a political secretary said during a pre-tour presentation. The French leader is due to join Vietnam’s top management on Monday in the investment Hanoi and essential power market players on Tuesday. Macron is hoping to demonstrate France’s skills in civil nuclear energy in Vietnam and Indonesia, which are willing to accept this form of energy, although various countries including Russia are also in the running for deals. France’s willingness” to engage assertively in Indo-Pacific geopolitics offers Vietnam a useful counterweight to China’s growing influence”, said Nguyen Khac Giang, a visiting fellow at Singapore’s ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute. In Indonesia, Macron will hold talks with the secretary general of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations ( ASEAN), Kao Kim Hourn, on Wednesday. Macron’s aide said the president is “defending the idea of international trade rules, we don’t want a jungle where the law of the strongest prevails”. The aide added that Macron’s message is aimed at both Washington, which is exerting “extremely strong pressure” via US President Donald Trump’s tariffs, and Beijing, which is becoming increasingly aggressive on both trade and territorial disputes, notably in the South China Sea. Before his departure, Macron held talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping calling for” fair competition” between both countries. And in Singapore on Friday, Macron will give the opening speech at the Shangri-La Dialogue, Asia’s largest forum on security and defence. He is expected to press that Russia’s war in Ukraine is destabilising Asia by “making North Korean soldiers fight on European soil against Ukrainians and by supporting North Korea’s ballistic and nuclear programmes”, the presidential aide said. Macron is also keen to counter the view of a European and Western “double standard” between the war in Ukraine and the conflict in Gaza. ” We fully understand the sensitivities of Muslim communities in the region”, the aide said, adding that Macron is “particularly committed” to achieving peace in the Middle East.
