Emmanuel Macron attacks stereotypes about the French. They have the image of being “proud” and “arrogant”, while on the contrary they doubt “a lot”, even “too much”, assured this Friday the president during a speech before the Economic Cooperation for Asia. -Pacific (Apec). “France has many assets,” declared the Head of State, traveling to Bangkok to present France’s strategy in Asia-Pacific.
“What makes us so special is that maybe, and contrary to the image that we have of very proud French people, maybe sometimes a little arrogant, it is that in reality we doubt a lot of ourselves, and probably too much, ”he continued in an intervention in English. More generally, the Head of State pleaded above all for the countries of the Asia-Pacific region, the scene of growing rivalry between China and the United States, to rely on regional powers, including France.
“Two Big Nervous Elephants”
“We are in the jungle and we have two big elephants that are getting more and more nervous. If they get very nervous, they will start waging war on each other and that will be a big problem for the rest of the jungle,” Emmanuel Macron described.
The Head of State has made what Western diplomats call the “Indo-Pacific” region a strategic priority, a vast area stretching from the East African coasts to the West American coasts where France has many territories and maritime areas. France holds most of its exclusive economic zone (EEZ) there, the second in the world, around seven territories, from Reunion to New Caledonia and Tahiti, where 1.65 million French citizens live.