Trying to make sense of Macron’s latest interview

French President Emmanuel Macron just wrapped up a visit to China. On his way home, Macron gave an interview to a small group of journalists — and made comments about Taiwan that have put him at loggerheads with some prominent American foreign policy voices.

There’s a lot of interesting stuff in Macron’s conversation with reporters from Politico and the French business publication Les Echos. But there’s also some — how to put this politely? — less interesting material.

Both Les Echos and Politico headline with the same broad notion: Macron’s very public focus on European “strategic autonomy.” It’s been a theme of his for years, so when he warns of Europe perhaps becoming “vassals” of the United States if Sino-American tensions erupt into actual conflict … ehhh. We’re not in [Gallic shrug] territory, but it’s not a stop-the-presses moment.

That’s not to say there aren’t interesting elements in Macron’s latest riff on the goal of European self-reliance.