Arnaud Bertrand Profile picture
Aug 24, 2024 17 tweets 5 min read Read on X
Quite an incredible move in French politics today that might reveal that we're in fact witnessing nothing less than a coup by Macron.

Let me explain 🧵
You'll remember that on the 7th of July France held elections that Macron lost badly, and which the left's "New Popular Front" won. Image
We're now 48 days afterwards and Macron and his government are still running the country, they've basically ignored the election results which is unprecedented in the history of the French 5th republic. Image
Normally, as is the rule set by precedents, Macron should have nominated a Prime Minister from the New Popular Front, the winners of the elections 🤷‍♂️
At first Macron argued that it wasn't convenient to change government right before the Olympics games and argued for an "Olympics truce".

Which is a bit bizarre because he's the one who decided to hold the elections right before the Olympics 🤦‍♂️
Anyhow we're now almost 2 weeks after the end of the Olympics and the situation is still the same so everyone is started to ask "wtf?"
Especially given that the New Popular Front has a Prime Minister ready: Lucie Castets, a senior public servant. Image
Now the excuse by Macron's camp is that they refuse a government with anyone from LFI ("France's unbowed", Mélenchon's party), the main party on the left and therefore the main party in the New Popular Front coalition (Lucie Castets is not from LFI but some ministers could be). Image
Macron has been demonizing LFI in a very similar fashion to the way Jeremy Corbyn was demonized in the UK, with accusations of antisemitism for their support of Gaza.

Except that unlike Corbyn, LFI doesn't bow - they're "France unbowed" after all - and fight back the accusations
Which brings me to what happened this morning, an incredible gamble by Mélenchon who asked an open question to Macron: "Say we committed to no LFI members in the government, would you nominate Lucie Castets Prime Minister?" Image
This forces Macron's hand: if he says "no", as Mélenchon himself wrote, it'd show that Macron's refusal to have LFI in the government is "just a pretext to deny the election results".

In effect if he says no, he openly admits that he just doesn't accept the election results.
Olivier Faure, who leads the Socialist party (the other big political force in the New Popular Front) backs up Mélenchon and says the "pretext of the presence of LFI ministers" isn't valid anymore. Image
In a way a New Popular Front government without LFI would in itself a denial of democracy because most voters voted for them *because* LFI was part of the coalition.

But this is also an act of political courage by Mélenchon and a way to put Macron in front of his contradictions.
We've already had some of Macron's lieutenants reply such as Benjamin Haddad (former spokesperson for Macron's party in the French parliament) who literally says that a New Popular Front gvt is unacceptable either way because it'd be bad for France.

They get to decide this? 🤔 Image
Let's see what Macron ultimately does but we're truly witnessing something extraordinary that demonstrates how undemocratic France has become: the people voted and the result of their vote is so far simply rejected because those holding power don't like it...
I got this community note 👇 in the thread, which is NOT true. In the elections of 2022 - the prior ones - Macron's party arrived first without winning a majority yet Macron didn't hesitate to nominate a Prime Minister from his own party 🤷‍♂️
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Another extraordinary comment on this matter by François Bayrou, a former Macron minister and a famous centrist politician in France:

He literally says that the answer to Mélenchon's question is "of course no" (i.e. a New Popular Front government won't be accepted no matter what) because the program of the NFP is "very dangerous" for France.

There you have it, he said the quiet part out loud: folks who lost the elections refuse to leave power in favor of those who won it because they disagree with the policies the winners would enact, and they believe they're the ultimate judge for how the country should be governed.

Absolutely unreal.

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More from @RnaudBertrand

Oct 18
Extraordinary words by Nvidia's CEO.

In polite terms, he effectively says that the chips export controls on China were one of the most self-destructive decisions ever taken by the US government: x.com/Yuchenj_UW/sta…

He says it caused Nvidia to go "from 95% market share to 0%" in China, and that he "cannot imagine any policymaker thinking that’s a good idea. That whatever policy we implemented caused America to lose one of the largest markets in the world to 0%.”

In a separate interview (linked below) he effectively says that might have lost the US the AI race. Because, as he puts it, "winning" the AI race means that "80% of the world uses the American tech stack" and that, given that China on its own is "50% of AI research" and "30% of the technology market", then them not using the American tech stack means that by definition America is "forfeiting and conceding" the AI race.

In that separate interview he also completely ridicules the narrative - used by the US to justify the export controls - that they were to prevent "dual use" of advanced Western chips for military purposes by China, saying that "no government, surely the Chinese government, is going to be building their defense on Western technology nor does the Pentagon use Chinese chips to build our national security."

So to sum up: in a foolish attempt to slow China's AI development, not only did the US lose its largest market, they may have lost the AI race itself.
The other interview 👇
Read 4 tweets
Oct 10
She supports the U.S. waging war against her own country for regime change (theguardian.com/world/2019/may…).

The Nobel "Peace" Prize, being its usual mockery of itself. Basically a reward for the most rabid defendents of a western liberal order, "peace" being a distant afterthought. x.com/NobelPrize/sta…
The ideological aspect is crystal clear, see 👇 "Democracy is a precondition for lasting peace"

By which they mean liberal democracy, of course. And it couldn't be more false: the countries that have waged the most wars, by far, over the past few decades were liberal democracies (the US first and foremost).
Unsurprisingly, she is beloved by the U.S., here's a Trump post from this January 👇 where he praises her effusively. Image
Read 6 tweets
Sep 29
Ok, I looked into this because sometimes claims that "China invents Y" can be somewhat exaggerated. But this is real, and completely insane.

This technology called "Bone 02" (inspired by the well-known "502 glue" in China) has been developed for the past 9 years by a team of orthopedic surgeons in Zhejiang province. The team leads are Professor Fan Shunwu (范顺武, Director of the Orthopedics Department at Zhejiang University) and Lin Xianfeng (researchgate.net/profile/Xianfe…).

It's inspired by oysters because the researchers noticed their extraordinary ability to firmly attach themselves in harsh underwater environment by secreting a special adhesive known as bio-cement, which creates a strong chemical interaction with surfaces and hardens quickly.

The properties of the glue are almost miraculous (sources: news.cn/20250910/1df93… and news.ifeng.com/c/8mVMq4PBdmJ):
- Nearly instant adhesion in blood-soaked wet physiological environments (it just takes 2-3 minutes)
- Extremely strong adhesive properties (bonding tensile force of over 400 pounds - over 181 kg)
- Complete biodegradability that naturally absorbs after about 6 months as the bone heals (no need for secondary surgery previously required in conventional treatments)
- Vast reduction of infection risks related to the traditional metal plates and screws normally needed for bone surgery
- Minimally invasive and rapid surgery since you just need a small opening large enough to apply the glue (as opposed to a complex surgery attaching metal fixations)

This glue could be especially useful for fractures with small bone fragments which are very difficult to fix with metal plates and screws.

The glue has already undergone a proper "prospective, multicenter, blinded, randomized, parallel-controlled, non-inferiority clinical trial" with over 150 patients (c.m.163.com/news/a/K95S9C0…). They've announced positive results - the glue "achieved seamless bonding of all fracture fragments" - and will soon publish the peer-reviewed paper in an orthopedics journal detailing full trial data.

They've launched a company for the product called 源囊生物 (Yuannang Bio) which just raised 2 weeks ago RMB100 million in Series A financing (bydrug.pharmcube.com/news/detail/ef…).
😅 x.com/LaowaiLaogai/s…

They could also do:
- "Yes, China's bone glue works, but at what cost?" (a classic)
- "China's bone glue is part of its biological warfare on the West"
- "Congress demands investigation into 'Dual-Use' nature of Chinese oyster technology"
- "Did China just weaponize oysters?"
- "Oysters are a Western mollusk: experts say China's bone glue violates the Convention on the Law of the Sea"
- "Oysters evolved in Europe 60 million years ago -here's how China stole their essence"
Pretty good too 👇😅

Or simply "China's bone glue: a sign of looming war with Taiwan" 😅
Read 4 tweets
Sep 28
The Guardian isn't even trying anymore, just going for basic "darkness v light" propaganda, including the holy halo around the head of the pro-EU politician 😅

The story (theguardian.com/world/2025/sep…) focuses entirely on supposed "Kremlin interference" but doesn't as much as mention that:
- a) the current pro-EU government just barred two pro-Russian political parties just 2 days before the elections (and one day before this article was written)
- b) that Moldova literally has its elections supervised by the EU on the ground, including (according to Kaja Kallas: x.com/RnaudBertrand/…) a "specialist team... to address illicit financing around the elections" and "a hybrid rapid response team [fighting] against the foreign interference"

So the side of the "light" is literally banning opposition parties at the last minute, and having foreign teams actively helping them shape electoral outcomes on the ground.

And they make the story all about "Russian interference". This isn't even remotely journalism, this is just stenographing for one side.Image
And then there's this 👇 Only 2 polling stations opened in the whole of Russia for Moldovans who live there to vote, vs 301 in the EU
Read 4 tweets
Jul 13
That's probably one of least known yet coolest facts about China: in almost all large cities (that I've seen) people swim or fish in the rivers.

This is Liangma river in Beijing 👇
Other example (my video) in Shenyang 👇
Paddling in the middle of Chongqing (I took this video in October last year)
Read 4 tweets
Jul 3
I have to say, there's something immensely ironic about the Dalai Lama arguing his reincarnation should be determined by a tax-exempt Swiss foundation incorporated in Zurich (dalailamafoundation.org/who-we-are/the…), while Beijing insists on maintaining the traditional centuries-old Golden Urn selection process.

And the even bigger irony is that everyone will doubtlessly denounce China for "destroying Tibetan traditions and culture" for doing so.
👇 Image
Read 4 tweets

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