French President Emmanuel Macron and Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Elysee Palace in Paris
On his first visit to Europe in five years, the Chinese president’s work agenda was apparently to deepen political and economic ties with the European Union as a way of counterbalancing the tense relations between Beijing and Washington, but also defending the alliance with Russia .
The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyden, participated in the meeting in Paris with Xi Jinping and Emmanuel Macron, unlike Olavo Scholtz, who declined the invitation citing prior commitments in the Baltic countries.
The itinerary for the Chinese visit began in France, a supporter of Ukraine, but which does not want to be a vassal of the United States, and ends in Belgrade and Budapest, countries close to Moscow.
Contacts focused on international crises, in particular the war in Ukraine, the situation in the Middle East and trade issues.
This visit to Paris marks 60 years since the establishment of diplomatic relations between France and China and follows a visit made by President Macron to Beijing and Guangzhou in April 2023.
During that visit, Macron called on Xi to call Russia to reason regarding Ukraine and for everyone to return to the negotiating table.
Now, the main subject that Macron wanted to discuss with his Chinese colleague was, once again, the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, a country with which China has already said it has unlimited friendship.
China will not change its position regarding Russia. If the European side expects China to impose sanctions on Russia or to join the United States and Europe in imposing sanctions, this will not happen.
Something that pleases the Chinese leader in relation to France is the fact that Macron argues that Europe should never be a vassal of the United States and that the survival of the European Union depends on its strategic autonomy.
Macron is trying to bring a third way to the current global chaos. He is trying to walk a fine line between superpowers.
It all depends on seeing how far Xi will go to please Macron. I believe it didn’t go very far, contrary to French expectations.
China prefers to maintain its alliance with Russia rather than closer contact with the European Union.
The Chinese leader’s post-Paris visit to Belgrade and Budapest shows that Beijing remains loyal to Moscow as it visits two of Russia’s allies.
Apparently, Xi prefers to remain increasingly linked to the Brics, maintaining a certain distance from Washington and Brussels.
This new global geopolitics leaves the European Union in a difficult international situation and, in particular, in the case of Trump’s victory.
Between Washington and the BRICS, Europeans have difficulty deciding where their greatest interests lie.
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