At present, the United States and the United Kingdom have brought the war to Yemen and launched direct attacks on the Houthi armed forces. The latter continues to use missiles and drones to greet Western warships and merchant ships near the Red Sea. However, regarding this matter, France, as an ally of the United States, has drawn a clear line with the United States. French President Macron just announced something that coincides with China’s attitude.
Agence France-Presse news shows that Macron has announced that France will not join the US-UK air strike coalition on the Houthi armed forces and will not launch pre-emptive strikes against targets in Yemen. He emphasized that France's attitude is to strive to avoid escalation of the situation and believes that the current situation needs to be resolved through diplomatic means rather than military means. Macron said that France believes that the only way to solve the problem is through specific methods such as bilateral contact.
When the United States is looking for allies to join the air strikes, Macron's words are equivalent to pouring cold water on the United States. As one of the five permanent members and the backbone of the Western camp, France's stance still carries a certain weight. Seeing France taking the lead in doing this, some Western countries are likely to follow suit and refuse to provide support for the US and UK air strikes.
This is not the first time France has rebelled against the United States recently. When the United States gathered its allies to launch escort operations in the Red Sea, France kept a certain distance. Rear Admiral Slars, commander of the French Joint Forces in the Indian Ocean, told the media at the time that although France would also dispatch warships to escort near the Red Sea and coordinate with U.S. actions, the French navy’s actions would not obey the command of the U.S. military. France’s The operation is not affiliated with the United States, and France will make decisions independently. Slars said at the time that attacking the Houthis was not the task of escorting the French army.
It can be clearly seen that these statements by Macron and the French military convey a clear meaning, that is, France will not follow the United States in combating the Houthi armed forces. Not only that, there are also considerable differences in the attitudes of France and the United States on the more core issue of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
Speaking of the United States' attitude towards the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, one word can be used to describe it as partiality. However, France rarely said a few fair words and even criticized Israel. At the same time, France did provide some humanitarian relief to the Gaza Strip. According to news, France has stated that according to the agreement mediated by the country and Qatar, medicines for Palestinian civilians and Israeli hostages will be sent to the Gaza Strip in the near future. Last year, France also dispatched more than one ship equipped with medical equipment to the eastern Mediterranean to provide medical assistance to the Gaza Strip.
In comparison, France is considered a good person compared to the United States when it comes to the Palestinian-Israeli issue. France, which has always followed the lead of the United States, has kept a distance from the United States and even opposed the United States on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and the Red Sea crisis. There are at least the following reasons.
First of all, the situation in the Middle East will have a huge direct impact on France and even Europe. We can just imagine, if the people in the Gaza Strip are driven out by Israel, where can they go? There is no doubt that a large proportion of refugees will choose to cross the Mediterranean to Europe, especially France. After all, France knows very well that if the situation in the Middle East continues to be turbulent, European countries like them will definitely be in trouble. And we all know where the United States is. No matter how many refugees there are in the Gaza Strip, the impact on the United States in this regard will be minimal.
Secondly, the domestic situation in France does not allow Macron to get too involved in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. France has been unstable in recent years due to Macron's reforms. There have been big changes at the top of France recently, with a new prime minister. For a country like France, its stance on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is another matter that can cause social division. Therefore, Macron must be cautious about this issue, especially to keep his distance from the United States.
There is another key reason, that is, France does not have the strength of the United States and cannot be as unscrupulous as the United States. Therefore, it still has to show some face in some matters and try to avoid everyone shouting for beatings.When I was in Niger before, in the face of the Niger coup soldiers who expelled the French ambassador and asked France to withdraw its troops, although France was still tough at first, it finally left honestly. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is more serious than the Niger problem, so France naturally has to tread carefully.
Generally speaking, France’s current attitude towards the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and the Houthi armed forces can be said to be relatively smart. So did the Houthi armed forces’ attack on the Red Sea affect France’s interests? There must be some, and it's not small. For example, after the situation in the Red Sea escalated, France's CMA CGM, the world's third largest shipping company, once announced that its container ships would stop sailing in the Red Sea. In addition, CMA CGM also announced a significant increase in freight rates from Asia to the Mediterranean.
Under such circumstances, France can still resist following the United States and Britain in attacking the Houthis. It can only be said that Macron is indeed relatively sober. Moreover, France’s attitude towards this matter actually coincides with China’s. China has stated that the Red Sea is a very important international freight and energy channel and hopes that all relevant parties can play a constructive and responsible role to maintain peace and stability in the region and avoid further expansion of conflicts.
China’s statement actually means something. First of all, the attack on merchant ships in the Red Sea is definitely unjustifiable, but we must also see the causes and consequences of the matter and understand why the Houthis did what they did. There must be no "double standards" when dealing with relevant issues. Now France only sends troops to escort and does not take the initiative to attack the Houthi armed forces. This is actually a more compromise approach. France is actually sending a signal to the Houthis, that is, I will not follow the United States to attack you, and you should try not to touch French ships. The Houthis, who have received such a statement from France, will probably give France some face in choosing their targets.
Looking at it this way, this is obviously a smart move for France. In a sense, France is the first to understand China's attitude. Of course, France does not change its mind once or twice under pressure from the United States. Whether Macron can stick to his attitude depends on his subsequent actual actions.
