Europe Sides With China, Against America
Europe’s relations with China are the big topic at the moment. From April 5 to April 8, French President Emmanuel Macron visited China—and the shock waves from the trip are still rippling out.
The most notable thing wasn’t Mr. Macron’s photos with Chinese dictator Xi Jinping on the steps of Beijing’s Great Hall of the People or on the edge of Tiananmen Square. Nor was it the entourage of business leaders, cinematographers and musicians or the presumably stage-managed enthusiastic reception from Chinese students that the French president received. Instead, it was Mr. Macon’s interview on the plane on the way home, April 9.
In his interview, Macron made his desire for a permanent break with America clearer than ever. He talked about Europe’s “strategic autonomy.” He said he didn’t want his country to be a “vassal” of America. America is at least putting on an appearance of pulling away from China right now. Macron doesn’t want to follow. Instead, he said that Europe should become a “third superpower.”
What has gained the most attention is the practical example of this split that he gave: Taiwan. In his statements, he took China’s side—blaming America for any rise in tension, not China for wanting to invade Taiwan in the first place. He said that Europe most not “become followers on this topic and take our cue from the U.S. agenda ….” It looked very much like he was throwing Taiwan under the bus.
A lot of others thought so too, and since his return, he’s faced a lot of questions. On April 12, on the second day of his state visit to the Netherlands, he reiterated his comments, saying that Europe is not a vassal of America and that Europe has “the right to think for ourselves.”
On April 13, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock arrived in China for her three-day visit. So far she’s worked to avoid being as controversial as Macron, while also avoiding disagreeing with him. Instead, she’s emphasized Europe’s unity in dealing with China.
This is a very prophetically important story. Talk of Europe becoming a “third superpower” will easily stand out to longtime Trumpet readers.
In 1983, Herbert W. Armstrong wrote: “For 50 years, I have been crying out to the world the Bible prophecies of this coming ‘United States of Europe’—a new united superpower perhaps more powerful than either the Soviet Union or the United States!” His December 1956 Plain Truth issue stated that Europe “will become a third power in the world.”
Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry has also talked specifically about Europe breaking with America and instead entering a trade relationship with China. This is based on a prophecy in Isaiah 23, which describes a “mart of nations” made up of both European and Asian powers. This mart will shut out the U.S. from world trade.
Macron’s trip to China could prove to be a pivotal moment in the fulfillment of this prophecy. To understand it, read our article “The Great ‘Mart of Nations.’”
