China will not sell weapons to Russia, Chinese President Xi Jinping promised on Monday during his state visit to Paris. French President Emmanuel Macron announced this at the end of the day at a joint press conference in the Élysée. According to Macron, China will also “strictly monitor the export of goods that can be used for military purposes” – referring to so-called dual usetechnologies that China has continued to sell to partner Russia.
During the press conference, Xi also “as a permanent member of the UN Security Council and an important responsible country” spoke out in favor of a global ceasefire during the Paris Olympics this summer – an idea that President Macron suggested a few weeks ago.
These are outreaches from the Chinese president to Macron, who is using the state visit mainly to try to tempt Xi to put pressure on his Russian partner Vladimir Putin to end the war in Ukraine. But, as expected, the Chinese president did not go that far. He reiterated that China did not cause the conflict and is “not a party.” He also sneered that “we oppose the use of the Ukrainian crisis to blame others, slander a third country and start a new Cold War.”
Macron has also asked Xi to attend the peace conference on the war in Ukraine that will be held in Switzerland in June, but the Chinese leader does not want to attend for the time being. “We talked about it,” said Macron – who looked intently at Xi several times during the press conference, while the Chinese president continued to stare into the room. “We will return to the subject.”
Also read
Chinese President Xi comes to Europe as a partner, but is also seen as a rival there
To the Pyrenees
The government leaders have the time for it. After the meeting this Monday in Paris – for which the French capital from the Hôtel des Invalides to the Élysée was filled with Chinese flags, heavily armed security guards and piles of odorous police horse poop – the duo left with their partners to a former holiday address of Macron in the Pyrenees for a “frank and friendly exchange,” in the words of the Élysée.
With this personal trip and all the respect Xi received in Paris, Macron wants to show that he appreciates his visit – leaders of smaller countries can be happy with just a press conference in the Élysée. However, the French president does not opt for the diplomatic platinum package: a dinner at the opulent Palace of Versailles. There, for example, Macron received Russian President Vladimir Putin just after his election in 2017. The fact that Versailles is now being skipped is not only because France prefers not to remember this, in retrospect, painful choice, but also to show Xi that, although he is a valued partner, there are serious issues to be resolved.
These days, Macron mainly wants to talk about the war in Ukraine, but there are also major concerns in Paris about market-disrupting Chinese state support for, among other things, the electric car and steel industries. These are concerns that are shared in Brussels, and the reason that European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen joined a meeting with Xi on Monday morning. She showed herself to be strict: according to news site Politico, she said that the EU “will not hesitate to take the difficult decisions necessary to protect its economies and security” – referring to possible economic sanctions. At the press conference at the Élysée, Macron emphasized that he wants “a framework for fair competition with reciprocal and legitimate rules.” “The EU has the most open market in the world, but we want to be able to protect it.”
Also read
French government wants ‘war economy’ to assist Ukraine
France and EU
No more concrete agreements have yet been reached in this area. However, government leaders announced that China and France have made eighteen new agreements on new collaborations in various areas, from the cultural sector to artificial intelligence and space travel. Macron also hinted that Xi has come to terms with him on the cognac issue: an investigation is underway in China into French cognac producers that could lead to import restrictions. Xi himself did not address this in his part of the conference.
Macron also wants to consistently show that Xi is not only visiting France, but also the European Union. He did this in advance by inviting Von der Leyen and agreeing with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz what needed to be discussed. During the press conference, the French president almost immediately started talking about how not only bilateral ties are important, but also “the relationship between Europe and China is important for the stability of the world.”
This goes against Xi’s own ideas. According to analysts, the Chinese leader has chosen to only visit Paris in Western Europe, and not Brussels, for example, because he prefers to see EU countries as separate countries rather than as one bloc. This is because in the event of sanctions, only EU-wide actions could cause any pain. The choice of France also plays a role in the fact that, unlike Germany, for example, the country has a reputation for being critical of the United States, with which China is involved in a trade war. For example, Xi will have looked approvingly last year when Macron noted in an interview that Europe should not follow the US as a “vassal” in the Taiwan issue. Macron underlined this attitude on Monday by stating that “our trade policy is not dictated by anyone. We are independent.”
To share
Email the editor
