(Bloomberg) -- Emmanuel Macron defended his approach to the US and China on Wednesday after his call for Europe to avoid being dragged into a conflict between Beijing and Washington sparked a backlash.

The French president said his view on Taiwan hasn’t shifted and pointed to a shared vision of an open Indo-Pacific region with US counterpart Joe Biden.

“France supports the status quo in Taiwan,” Macron told a news conference in Amsterdam alongside Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte during a state visit to the Netherlands. “France supports the One China policy and the search for a peaceful solution to the question. That’s also the European position.”

He said this approach was compatible with the bloc’s role as an ally but insisted on the importance of strategic independence for Europe.

“Being an ally doesn’t mean being a vassal,” he said. “Just because we’re allies and do things together that we decide to do doesn’t mean we no longer have the right to think for ourselves.”

Macron told Politico and Les Echos newspapers, and Radio France on the flight back from a three-day trip to China last week that Europe shouldn’t simply follow the US over Taiwan, leading to widespread criticism that overshadowed the first Dutch state visit by a French leader in 23 years.

In response to Macron’s remarks, Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs affirmed France’s official position. 

“Our country will work with France and other like-minded international partners to continue to maintain peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region, as well as the development and prosperity of global freedom and democracy,” the ministry said in a statement Thursday. 

Macron arrived in Amsterdam on Tuesday, making the case for more joint EU spending, closer control over European supplies of technology and industrial goods, and also a degree of skepticism about relations with the US. Rutte has regularly opposed his proposals, advocating instead for strong cooperation with the US and a more conservative approach to fiscal policy.

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The Dutch leader told the news conference he agrees with Macron on the need to develop the EU as a player with autonomy, however.

The US is an essential partner for protection but “Europe needs a powerful voice in geopolitics, and there is a risk that we won’t accumulate a sufficient amount of power,” Rutte said. “That is a balance we always have to look for.”

Macron has been pushing for a more assertive foreign policy in the bloc with closer integration and more common spending since he took power six years ago, reflecting a longstanding French approach that began with Charles De Gaulle in the 1960s.

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His supporters argue that the war in Ukraine has vindicated his call for regional sovereignty. His critics say the conflict has instead shown the European Union is still unable to police its own backyard without help from across the Atlantic.

The president’s attempt to build bridges with counterpart Xi Jinping and mark independence from Washington during his state visit to China last week provoked a furious response from some US lawmakers, including Marco Rubio, the top Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee.

Donald Trump also accused Macron of being sycophantic toward the Chinese leader in an interview with Fox News.

Macron said he wouldn’t comment on the former US president’s remarks and criticized those who he said seek escalation.

Democratic Divisions

Beijing held three days of military exercises around Taiwan over the weekend following a meeting between its president, Tsai Ing-wen, and US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in California last week. China has pledged to bring the island democracy under its control, by force if necessary, while Tsai’s Democratic Progressive Party asserts it is a sovereign country.

A Taiwanese official said Macron’s comments in China had provoked concerns and added that divisions among democratic nations would encourage Xi to speed up a decision to launch an attack.

White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said the Biden administration remains “comfortable and confident in the terrific bilateral relationship we have with France,” citing Biden’s good relationship with Macron, according to Agence France-Presse.

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During his trip, the French president signed agreements to promote cooperation with The Hague on innovation, including semiconductors and quantum computing.

Macron also met with Peter Wennink, the chief executive officer of ASML Holding NV, a Dutch firm that makes equipment for semiconductor companies. Rutte’s government is tightening restrictions on the sale of ASML machinery to China, following pressure from Washington.

--With assistance from Alexandre Rajbhandari, Debby Wu, Jenny Leonard and Cindy Wang.

(Adds statement from Taiwan ministry in eighth paragraph.)

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