Macron allies defend Taiwan comments

French President Emmanuel Macron delivers a speech to the Nexus Institute in the Amare theatre in The Hague on April 11th. Photograph: Ludovic Marin/AFP via Getty Images French officials stressed the country's close ties to the US after Emmanuel Macron caused consternation in Western capitals by suggesting that he feared the EU could become a "vassal" of Washington as well as Beijing. Several close allies of Mr Macron issued the defence on Tuesday after he came under fire in the wake of a three-day state visit to China for suggesting in an interview that Europe should distance itself from Sino-American…