diplomacy
Xi in France: Ukraine, Middle East and climate on the agenda
Xi is on a two-day state visit to France, during which both politicians will also discuss trade issues. photo
© Stephane de Sakutin/POOL AFP/AP/dpa
Wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, disagreements over trade: the talks between Xi, Macron and von der Leyen are tough. Can Europeans hope to sway China’s leader?
According to Macron, everything must be done to involve China on major global issues. It is in the interest of the Europeans “to ensure that China is committed to the stability of the international order.” Specifically, the Elysée Palace hopes that China, as one of Russia’s most important partners during the visit, can be encouraged to use its leverage over Moscow to help resolve the conflict.
Macron also wanted to address concerns about some Chinese companies participating in the Russian war effort, it said. There are repeated accusations against Chinese companies of supplying so-called dual-use goods – i.e. goods that can be used for civil and military purposes – to Russia. The USA, for example, has already sanctioned Chinese companies.
China has no interest in supporting Ukraine
In a guest article in the French newspaper “Le Figaro”, Xi wrote that China is neither a party nor a participant in Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. They hope that peace and stability will soon return to Europe and want to work together with France and the international community to find good ways to solve the crisis.
However, China expert Marc Julienne assumes that Beijing has no interest in intervening with Ukraine, as he told the ARD Paris studio. “It has no interest, it has no will and so it tries to remain as distant as possible.”
It is still necessary to point out the contradictory attitude of China, which sees itself as an actor of peace but does not condemn Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin, said the head of the Asia Center at the French Institute for International Relations Ifri. He doesn’t believe that the talks in Paris will change much. “Unfortunately, I don’t think we have many levers to move China.”
Julienne: “China needs the European market”
However, the situation is different when it comes to economic issues, which will also be discussed in Paris. “China needs the European market,” says Julienne. Before Xi’s visit, Macron had called for respectful economic behavior towards China, but one that protected Europe’s own interests. The French head of state is concerned, among other things, with fairer conditions of competition.
Germany is not sitting at the Paris consultation table, unlike during Xi’s last visit to France in 2019. Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) was recently in China himself and also discussed with Macron in advance at a private dinner in Paris on Thursday.
“Chancellor (Olaf) Scholz cannot be there, but we agreed at our meeting last Thursday,” Macron said in an interview published yesterday in the newspapers “La Provence” and “La Tribune Dimanche”. He will receive von der Leyen before the joint conversation with Xi. Macron emphasized: “This makes it possible to unite Europeans and to position ourselves as a force.”