Bruno Le Maire’s was speaking following comments from French President Emmanuel Macron, who said said Europe must be strong enough to defend itself in the future – words Donald Trumped called “insulting”, in a tweet.
Speaking to the German newspaper Handelsblatt, Le Maire said “It’s about Europe having to become a kind of Empire, as China is. And how the US is.”
When he was questioned on the use of the term “ empire”, he said “Do not get me wrong, I’m talking about a peaceful empire that’s a constitutional state”.
When he was asked if the efforts were really credible, Le Maire said that China is an important trading partner for France, and that he will be receiving the Chinese Vice Premier in a few weeks with the aim of strengthening trade relations.
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Chinese Premier Li Keqiang has previously said that that China stands ready to work with France to expand two-way opening-up and to promote the continuously balanced growth of investment and trade.
Li’s remarks came as he met with French President Emmanuel Macron on the sidelines of the 12th summit of the Asia-Europe Meeting held in Belgium last month.
Bruno Le Maire went on to say that “trade must be on the basis of reciprocity. The Chinese have access to our European markets, we need to have access to the Chinese market”.
“Everybody knows it takes guts to stand in the way of Donald Trump’s administration,” Le Maire said. “The people of Europe have had enough of the babble from Brussels. They want to see action.”