China has never condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine and displays its closeness to Russia. However, it has wanted to position itself as a mediating power in the conflict in recent months.
Emmanuel Macron, on a state visit to Beijing, told his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on Thursday that he was counting on him to “bring Russia to its senses” vis-à-vis Ukraine.
“I know I can count on you to bring Russia to reason and everyone to the negotiating table,” said the French head of state to Xi Jinping during an official bilateral meeting.
“We need to find a lasting peace, that is to say a peace which respects internationally recognized borders and which avoids any form of escalation”, he added. “And I believe that it is also an important question for China, as much as it is for France and for Europe”.
For his part, the Chinese president hailed the ties with France in a world in “deep change”. The two presidents called on Thursday for peace talks as soon as possible to end the conflict in Ukraine, also rejecting any recourse to nuclear weapons.
We need “a resumption of discussions as soon as possible to build a lasting peace”, pleaded in particular the French head of state, while his Chinese counterpart considered that “nuclear weapons cannot be used” and condemned any ” attack on civilians”, in joint statements following their bilateral talks.
Ursula von der Leyen also in Beijing
At the end of the afternoon, the two leaders must make statements to the press, then a trilateral meeting will be held in the presence of the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, also in Beijing.
At the center of the discussions: the war in Ukraine. Received in the morning by Prime Minister Li Qiang, Emmanuel Macron “discussed the conflict in Ukraine”, according to the French presidency.
“In these troubled times that we are going through”, he underlined “the importance” of “dialogue between China and France”.
For her part, Ursula von der Leyen, received by Li Qiang, stressed that “EU-China relations have become complex in recent years, and it is important that we discuss all aspects of this relationship together today” , especially in this “volatile geopolitical environment”.
Beijing never condemned the Russian invasion
In recent weeks, international pressure has mounted a notch on China to encourage it to get involved for peace in Ukraine. Because, if Beijing says it is officially neutral, Xi Jinping has never condemned the Russian invasion or even spoken on the phone with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodomyr Zelensky. Conversely, he recently went to Moscow to reaffirm his alliance with Russian President Vladimir Putin, in the guise of an anti-Western front.
In this context, Emmanuel Macron has the ambition to “be a voice that unites Europe”, which is why he invited the President of the European Commission to accompany him, as he recalled on Wednesday in a speech. . But will the two adopt the same tone? On the first day of his three-day state visit, the French president said on Wednesday that Beijing could play a “major role” in “finding a path to peace” in Ukraine.
Ursula von der Leyen issued a much harsher warning last week in Brussels: “How China continues to react to Putin’s war will be a determining factor in the future of relations between the EU and China”.
