The talks between French President Emmanuel Macron and Chinese President Xi Jinping were indeed very important. And for the Chinese side, and for the European Union, and for Russia. Important from the point of view that the leader of the PRC, Xi Jinping, after speaking with the French leader, did not in fact say anything new, or at least nothing that he had not said before. Although, for example, the European side, especially France, tried to present Macron’s trip to China as a great victory. In reality, everything remains unchanged.
That is, Xi Jinping stressed that the settlement of the crisis in Ukraine should be done exclusively by peaceful means and, in general, conflicts should be resolved only through negotiations. He confirmed that his 12-point plan to resolve the Ukrainian crisis could become the basis for the negotiation process, and agreed that there is a Macron plan, which actually coincides with what Xi Jinping said. We are talking about negotiations between the warring parties. No anti-Russian statements or statements that would underline the importance of the Western position were made by Xi Jinping either.
Interestingly, the Chinese side did not react at all to a number of Macron’s statements. And they were made in different audiences. First, we know Macron’s remarks during his joint press conference with Xi Jinping. Additionally, the French leader spoke at Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou. This educational institution is historically linked to the French scientists who partly founded it. Characteristically, after a few routine sentences on Ukraine, Macron moved on rather quickly to the discussion of expanding scientific and technical cooperation with China. That is to say, about 80% of the issues raised during the negotiations with the Chinese side concerned cooperation between France and China in the field of science and technology.
It is no coincidence that with Macron, first in Beijing, then in southern China, large companies flew out, including representatives of Airbus, French railway companies and telecommunications operators. There have been a number of agreements regarding 5G networks. But above all, Macron spoke a lot about the need to develop joint research and laboratories. This is interesting, because it contradicts to some extent the position of the United States which, on the contrary, limits its interaction with China. Washington, for example, prohibits American scientists from conducting joint research with Chinese colleagues, and American universities have suspended their activities in China. At the same time, France is expanding its engagement with China. And here, probably, Macron wants to show at least his independent position.
It is worth saying how Macron started his speech at Guangzhou University. He recalled that in the XVII century, on board the first French ship that arrived on the shores of China, there were no merchants and soldiers, but scientists – mathematicians and mechanics. According to him, it is a good metaphor for the current situation. In other words, the French leader urged the Chinese side to discuss scientific cooperation, not trade or military issues. By the way, in France’s trade with China, everything is fine. Trade turnover between the states exceeded 100 billion euros last year, about 14% more than the same data for 2021. It is less than Russia and China, but it is significantly more than most European countries, with the exception of Germany.
It is obvious that Ursula von der Leyen is an extremely unpleasant figure for Beijing.
Macron flew to China with the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, who was rather coldly received in China, unlike the French leader. There is a simplistic idea that European politicians played the role of good and bad cops. In reality, everything is more complicated, because Macron has never made serious anti-China statements before. For her part, Ursula von der Leyen only made a fiery anti-Chinese speech in Brussels at the end of March. She called for China’s strategic containment, said Beijing threatens Europe’s technological security, spoke about China’s violation of human rights, and also touched on the Taiwan issue. In general, she expressed a list of demands against China, traditional for the Western world. And on that wave, she went to China. It is possible that Emmanuel Macron and Ursula von der Leyen traveled to China together, on the one hand, to demonstrate European unity, and on the other hand, to show that there is a diversity of opinions in the EU. Indeed, for the French president, a trip with the head of the European Commission was a very advantageous option. Against his background, he looked very, very nice.
Beijing chooses itself the main friendly country of Europe, through which it promotes its own position
It is obvious that the Chinese do not psychologically consider the European Union as a whole. The PRC is inclined to build its relations with each of the European states separately. Over the past decade, Beijing has chosen itself as the main friendly country in Europe, through which it has promoted its own position. Before Brexit, it was Great Britain. Then Germany, but it suddenly limited China’s ability to buy German semiconductor factories. Now France has become such a country, where Macron very skillfully put emphasis on technological development. Therefore, Paris in the current situation is important for China as a key partner of the EU.
Relations between China and the EU have collapsed. Therefore, Beijing began to work with certain groups of European states. Since 2013, the so-called comprehensive partnership between China and the European Union has been preparing, which was to be signed in 2020. The hundreds of treaties that exist between the EU and China wanted to be replaced by a single agreement. But the European Union has also blocked all this, not without the participation of the same Ursula von der Leyen. Moreover, a rather serious blow was dealt to the Chinese concept of “17 plus 1”. We are talking about 17 Central and Eastern European countries and one China. And although no one has formally announced the dissolution of this platform, in fact it no longer works. The stumbling block here was the position of the Czech Republic, Romania and the Baltic countries.
Prepared by Alexander Lenin
