Abstract

President Macron's “Third Way” strategy, formalized in France's updated Indo-Pacific report, offers an alternative to bloc confrontation by championing strategic autonomy and multilateralism. Driven by efforts to overcome geopolitical marginalization, this initiative provides a soft balance to U.S. strategy while complicating Sino-French relations. Despite constraints like resource dispersion, it introduces new governance variables, allowing China to pursue cooperation and address regional governance deficits. 

About the Authors: Fang Jiongsheng is Associate Research Fellow at the School of Political Science and Public Administration, Shandong University, and Researcher at the Shandong University Center for European Studies; 

Zhang Ji is Associate Dean and Professor at the School of International Relations and Public Affairs, Fudan University, and Director of the Fudan University Center for French Studies.