Opinion: Macron-Trump meeting "all image, no substance"

World
Europe

By CGTN’s Wang Duan

All image and no substance.

That's how Professor Douglas Yates from the American Graduate School described the meeting between US President Donald Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron.

“The prime motivation of US President Donald Trump’s participation in the Bastille Day celebrations in Paris is to escape scandalous revelations at home,” said Yates on The Point with CGTN, referring to the allegations of a Russian connection.

“The motivation of French President Emmanuel Macron is that he sees this as an opportunity for a confidence building exercise when Trump is tremendously unpopular.”

In the leaders' joint press conference, Trump called Chinese President Xi Jinping a friend and a great leader he respects.

Macron said he and Xi have a number of joint commitments, including on climate, adding "he’s very committed to do that.”

So why is China being mentioned so much in the Trump-Macron meeting?

“When you look around the world, there is only one president who seems to have his act together and that would be the president of China," Professor Yates said. "I am not surprised both of them are flattering. What else could they do,”

Professor Christopher Chambers at Georgetown University said he agreed withYates.

“Even though there is no way of Macron showing he is the leader of the EU, the EU wants to deal with China on trade, on climate change, on alternative energy, on security," said Chambers.

"Macron wants to build himself up as the leader in the EU, so he has to talk about China. He has to remind President Trump that China is important."

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