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.

Asked whether China’s focus on its confrontation with the US, including on Taiwan, made it see Europe as “a chess piece between two blocs”, Macron said Europe must stay focused on its own objectives.

“Is it in our interest to accelerate on the subject of Taiwan? No. The worst thing would be to think that we Europeans must become followers on this topic and adapt to the American rhythm and a Chinese overreaction,” said Macron.

He also warned of a “trap for Europe” if it got “caught up in crises that are not ours”, just as it was seeking to become more independent on security, defence and economic issues. If there was a conflict between the US-China “duopoly” then Europe “would not have the time or the means to build our strategic autonomy”. In that case, he argued, Europeans “would become vassals instead of a third pole if we had a few years to build it”.

Antoine Bondaz, a Taiwan specialist at the Foundation for Strategic Research, a French think-tank, said it was problematic that Macron appeared to imply the US was as much at fault for any escalation over Taiwan as Beijing. This had cast doubt over France’s position and the EU’s efforts to take a harder line with Beijing.

“The optics of this are you’ve got a president who’s leaving China after a visit seen as pretty complacent, with military exercises starting (around Taiwan), and who at no moment showcases his distance with China and who criticises the US,” Bondaz said.

Macron’s diplomatic push in Beijing comes amid deepening tensions between the US and China. Under President Joe Biden, US politicians have met Taiwanese leaders more frequently, including a historic visit to California by Taiwanese president Tsai Ing-wen last week, in moves Beijing sees as provocative.

Republican senator Marco Rubio, in a video posted on Twitter, said Macron’s interview was troubling and suggested a rethink of Washington’s support for Ukraine. “If Macron speaks for all of Europe and their position now is, they’re not going to pick sides between the US and China over Taiwan, maybe then we should not be taking sides either . . . and [let them] handle Ukraine,” said Rubio.

Two senior EU diplomats said Macron’s comments would hurt both Europe and Ukraine’s relationship with the US, and make it harder for the EU to forge a united position towards Beijing.

“It is not a win for anybody,” said one of the diplomats. “Except Xi.”

Macron has sought to play a role in the complex diplomacy between the US, China and Russia, not only for France but as a leader of the EU, but has put off some allies, especially in eastern Europe.

Dovilė Šakalienė, a Lithuanian lawmaker, accused Macron of “geopolitical blindness” and acting “contrary to the strategic interests of EU and Nato”. Many former communist countries in eastern Europe have identified with Taiwan’s position because they see a parallel between Beijing’s actions against the island and the threat posed by Russia to former Soviet nations.

A French diplomatic source defended Macron’s interview as reiterating long-held positions on the need for Europe to promote its own strategic autonomy and underlined that France’s position on Taiwan had not changed.

“Macron and Biden spoke before the trip, so you can imagine that they discussed China. Macron’s goal on the trip was to engage with China across the board on many issues,” the person said. “Forging an independent foreign policy has long been a French position since General [Charles] de Gaulle and even earlier.”

The French president has come under fire in the past over Russia by saying Moscow should not be “humiliated” in any peace agreement over Ukraine and by insisting on security guarantees for Moscow as part of negotiations to end the war.