Embattled Macron Heads to China, Leaving Burning Paris Behind

French President Emmanuel Macron attends a ceremony in tribute to French GIGN gendarme Marechal des Logis-Chef Arnaud Blanc, at the French National Gendarmerie Intervention Group (GIGN) base of Versailles-Satory in Versailles, west of Paris, France, 31 March 2023. (EPA)
French President Emmanuel Macron attends a ceremony in tribute to French GIGN gendarme Marechal des Logis-Chef Arnaud Blanc, at the French National Gendarmerie Intervention Group (GIGN) base of Versailles-Satory in Versailles, west of Paris, France, 31 March 2023. (EPA)
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Embattled Macron Heads to China, Leaving Burning Paris Behind

French President Emmanuel Macron attends a ceremony in tribute to French GIGN gendarme Marechal des Logis-Chef Arnaud Blanc, at the French National Gendarmerie Intervention Group (GIGN) base of Versailles-Satory in Versailles, west of Paris, France, 31 March 2023. (EPA)
French President Emmanuel Macron attends a ceremony in tribute to French GIGN gendarme Marechal des Logis-Chef Arnaud Blanc, at the French National Gendarmerie Intervention Group (GIGN) base of Versailles-Satory in Versailles, west of Paris, France, 31 March 2023. (EPA)

French President Emmanuel Macron will head to China next week for a rare visit to the rising superpower, in an awkward balancing act between his global statesman ambitions and his struggle to contain embarrassing pension protests at home.

The French leader, whose decision to ram much-disputed pension legislation through parliament earlier this month sparked clashes and violence in French cities, is trying to keep his busy diplomatic schedule on track.

But the chaotic scenes of burning piles of rubbish in Paris, which were broadcast around the world, have already forced Macron to cancel a state visit by Britain's King Charles, an embarrassment which did not go unnoticed in diplomatic circles.

"It's a very prestigious thing to host the first visit abroad of the King of England, it doesn't happen every day. If you can't pull it off, it's a problem," the ambassador of a European country told Reuters.

"It's clear it is weakening him," another EU diplomat said. "It's hard to measure the impact, but there is one."

The protests, which will see unions stage an 11th nationwide strike during Macron's time in Beijing, come as the French president is trying to regain the initiative on the war in Ukraine and play a leadership role in Europe.

That hasn't escaped Chinese observers.

"The protests bring a large amount of risk and France needs a diplomatic highlight, especially since it wants to play the role of Europe's leader," said Wang Yiwei, director of the Centre for European Studies at Renmin University in China.

Macron will also need to keep in mind China's tactic of playing divide and rule, said a non-Western diplomat who suggested China may try to use the trip to place a wedge in the Western camp and lure France away from the United States.

Red line on Russia

For his part, Macron wants to send a clear warning to his counterpart Xi Jinping, who was hosted at the Kremlin by Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier this month, that Europe will not accept China providing arms to Russia, now a year into its invasion of Ukraine.

"Our message will be clear: There may be a temptation to get closer to Russia, but do not cross that line," a senior French diplomat said.

Analysts say Putin's decision to station nuclear weapons in Belarus can provide an opportunity for France to push China to distance itself from Russia on this point, Beijing having long denounced nuclear proliferation.

"France is a nuclear power, it's got this card to play," Antoine Bondaz of the France-based FRS think-tank.

However, a Brussels-based diplomat said many in Europe were doubtful he could be successful in his previously stated aim of nudging China to put pressure on Moscow to end the war. "Many in Brussels roll their eyes when you bring that up," he said.

French diplomats are playing down the impact the protests at home could have on Macron's credibility abroad. They point out Xi faced his own protests at the end of last year, in a rare show of civil disobedience over COVID-19 restrictions.

"The Chinese will play a fine balancing act. They need a good relationship with Europe so will not want to play on Macron's internal problems," another French diplomat said.

Amid worsening relations between Washington and Beijing, which reached fever pitch last month after the US shot down a Chinese balloon flying over its territory, Europe is trying to carve its own path.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who will be accompanying Macron in Beijing, said the bloc was looking to "de-risk" diplomatically and economically at a time China was exerting greater control over companies, without "decoupling".

Analysts say China's deteriorating relationship with the US gives Europe a bit more leverage, with the EU's vast single market becoming more crucial for China.

That can provide an opportunity for Macron, who has pushed Europe to bolster its "strategic autonomy," but is also hoping France and the rest of the EU can benefit from a reopening Chinese economy after years of pandemic.

"Macron can deliver a message that Europe wants to engage with China, but that it's going to be difficult if China continues down the path that it's currently on with Russia," Noah Barkin, an analyst with Rhodium Group, said.



Iran-Israel War: A Lifeline for Netanyahu?

FILE - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends a ceremony on the eve of Israel's Remembrance Day for fallen soldiers at the Yad LaBanim Memorial in Jerusalem, on April 29, 2025. (Abir Sultan/Pool Photo via AP, File)
FILE - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends a ceremony on the eve of Israel's Remembrance Day for fallen soldiers at the Yad LaBanim Memorial in Jerusalem, on April 29, 2025. (Abir Sultan/Pool Photo via AP, File)
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Iran-Israel War: A Lifeline for Netanyahu?

FILE - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends a ceremony on the eve of Israel's Remembrance Day for fallen soldiers at the Yad LaBanim Memorial in Jerusalem, on April 29, 2025. (Abir Sultan/Pool Photo via AP, File)
FILE - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends a ceremony on the eve of Israel's Remembrance Day for fallen soldiers at the Yad LaBanim Memorial in Jerusalem, on April 29, 2025. (Abir Sultan/Pool Photo via AP, File)

The Iran-Israel war has helped strengthen Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu domestically and overseas, just as his grip on power looked vulnerable.

On the eve of launching strikes on Iran, his government looked to be on the verge of collapse, with a drive to conscript ultra-Orthodox Jews threatening to scupper his fragile coalition.

Nearly two years on from Hamas's unprecedented attack in 2023, Netanyahu was under growing domestic criticism for his handling of the war in Gaza, where dozens of hostages remain unaccounted for, said AFP.

Internationally too, he was coming under pressure including from longstanding allies, who since the war with Iran began have gone back to expressing support.

Just days ago, polls were predicting Netanyahu would lose his majority if new elections were held, but now, his fortunes appear to have reversed, and Israelis are seeing in "Bibi" the man of the moment.

– 'Reshape the Middle East' –

For decades, Netanyahu has warned of the risk of a nuclear attack on Israel by Iran -- a fear shared by most Israelis.

Yonatan Freeman, a geopolitics expert at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, said Netanyahu's argument that the pre-emptive strike on Iran was necessary draws "a lot of public support" and that the prime minister has been "greatly strengthened".

Even the opposition has rallied behind him.

"Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is my political rival, but his decision to strike Iran at this moment in time is the right one," opposition leader Yair Lapid wrote in a Jerusalem Post op-ed.

A poll published Saturday by a conservative Israeli channel showed that 54 percent of respondents expressed confidence in the prime minister.

The public had had time to prepare for the possibility of an offensive against Iran, with Netanyahu repeatedly warning that Israel was fighting for its survival and had an opportunity to "reshape the Middle East."

During tit-for-tat military exchanges last year, Israel launched air raids on targets in Iran in October that are thought to have severely damaged Iranian air defenses.

Israel's then-defense minister Yoav Gallant said the strikes had shifted "the balance of power" and had "weakened" Iran.

"In fact, for the past 20 months, Israelis have been thinking about this (a war with Iran)," said Denis Charbit, a political scientist at Israel's Open University.

Since Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, Netanyahu has ordered military action in Gaza, against the Iran-backed Hezbollah group in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen, as well as targets in Syria where long-time leader Bashar al-Assad fell in December last year.

"Netanyahu always wants to dominate the agenda, to be the one who reshuffles the deck himself -- not the one who reacts -- and here he is clearly asserting his Churchillian side, which is, incidentally, his model," Charbit said.

"But depending on the outcome and the duration (of the war), everything could change, and Israelis might turn against Bibi and demand answers."

– Silencing critics –

For now, however, people in Israel see the conflict with Iran as a "necessary war," according to Nitzan Perelman, a researcher specialized in Israel at the National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) in France.

"Public opinion supports this war, just as it has supported previous ones," she added.

"It's very useful for Netanyahu because it silences criticism, both inside the country and abroad."

In the weeks ahead of the Iran strikes, international criticism of Netanyahu and Israel's military had reached unprecedented levels.

After more than 55,000 deaths in Gaza, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory, and a blockade that has produced famine-like conditions there, Israel has faced growing isolation and the risk of sanctions, while Netanyahu himself is the subject of an international arrest warrant for alleged war crimes.

But on Sunday, two days into the war with Iran, the Israeli leader received a phone call from European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, while Foreign Minister Gideon Saar has held talks with numerous counterparts.

"There's more consensus in Europe in how they see Iran, which is more equal to how Israel sees Iran," explained Freeman from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Tuesday that Israel was doing "the dirty work... for all of us."

The idea that a weakened Iran could lead to regional peace and the emergence of a new Middle East is appealing to the United States and some European countries, according to Freeman.

But for Perelman, "Netanyahu is exploiting the Iranian threat, as he always has."