French president Emmanuel Macron has come under fire for saying that Europe should distance itself from brewing tensions between the US and China over Taiwan, and forge its own strategic independence on everything from energy to defence.

Diplomats and lawmakers in the US and in central and eastern Europe slammed Macron for being soft on Beijing and worryingly critical of the US, especially given that Washington has been a staunch backer of Europe as it deals with the fallout from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Analysts found the comments particularly ill-timed with China carrying out large-scale military drills in the straits of Taiwan in response to the Taiwanese president’s visit to the US last week.

Macron gave a joint interview published on Sunday to Politico and Les Echos after a three-day state visit to China in part aimed at convincing President Xi Jinping to use his influence with his Russian ally Vladimir Putin over the war in Ukraine. But the trip also provoked malaise in some quarters for the way the French president was accompanied by a big delegation of business leaders and the announcement of a lucrative deal in China by French aerospace group Airbus.