French President Emmanuel Macron arrived in Bangkok on Wednesday evening to participate in the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit after that of the G20 in Indonesia, noted an AFP journalist around 4:30 p.m. French time.
During this two-day meeting, Emmanuel Macron will try to relaunch France’s strategic ambitions in Asia Pacific, undermined by the crisis with Australia around a mega-submarine contract in 2021.
“Stability” and “cooperation” on the menu
He had talks on Tuesday with Chinese Presidents Xi Jinping and Indonesian President Joko Widodo and was also due to meet Indian Prime Ministers Narendra Modi and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Wednesday on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Indonesia.
“The President reaffirmed France’s commitment to the region to promote stability and cooperation in the face of common challenges,” said the Elysée after the bilateral meeting with Joko Widodo.
“Recognition” of the influence of France
Above all, he hopes for a “recognition” of the ambitions and influence of France at the summit of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec), Thursday and Friday in Bangkok, to which he will be the first European head of state invited.
The challenges are numerous, from the size of the area in which France is trying to project itself, more than 10,000 kilometers from Europe, to the weakness of the means deployed by Paris, in particular military.