The three-way meeting between EU Commission President von der Leyen and Presidents Xi and Macron is worthy of a special edition on Maundy Thursday. Even though there were no brand-new positions on closer inspection, a change in mood was noticeable.
The effort of the summit so close to Easter definitely did something for diplomacy. Von der Leyen and Xi met in person. And according to EU representatives, Xi has at least shown a willingness to talk to the Ukrainian president – in due course and if the mood suits, as they say.
Read what Xi currently has to contribute to solving the war in Europe in our current report by Amelie Richter. Our conclusion: It is good that the meeting took place, but it was not a great success in terms of content.
Today, we learned: EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen continued speaking openly and directly. Together with the eloquent Frenchman Macron, she met a cooperative Xi Jinping. At least on a verbal level, he was quite willing to make concessions.
France’s Head of State Emmanuel Macron and EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen personally called on Beijing to influence Moscow to stop the Ukraine war. Whether the Europeans found an ear with China’s President Xi Jinping was still questionable immediately after the meetings on Thursday. At a joint press conference with Macron, Xi resorted to his usual choice of words without directly addressing Russia and urged “restraint from all political partners”. Peace talks must resume as soon as possible, Xi said. He stressed that attacks on civilians and civilian facilities must be ceased, and the use of nuclear weapons prevented. Xi thus followed the content of the 12-point peace plan presented by Beijing.
During the roughly one-and-a-half-hour bilateral meeting, Macron clearly and directly wooed China’s President: “I know I can count on you to bring Russia to its senses, and bring everyone back to the negotiating table,” the French President told Xi, according to the AFP news agency. The Russian attack against Ukraine represented a blow to stability in Europe, Macron stressed, calling for a “sustainable, long-term peace”. The meeting between the presidents was “open and constructive”, Élysée sources said afterward. Xi himself described the meeting as “friendly and profound”.
After a trilateral meeting with Xi and Macron, EU Commission President von der Leyen emphasized her firm support for the peace plan of Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. That is, not for Xi’s plan, but for Kyiv’s own competing concept. After the tripartite meeting, only the head of the EU Commission and the French president made statements. Xi did not make another statement. She had asked Xi to speak with Zelenskiy, von der Leyen said in a separate press conference afterward.
Xi reiterated his willingness to do so, given the right conditions and time, von der Leyen said. “I think this is a positive element.” She said she was counting on China not to supply military equipment to Russia, either directly or indirectly. “Arming the aggressor is a clear violation of international law. This would indeed significantly harm the relationship between the European Union and China,” the EU Commission chief stressed. According to von der Leyen, the situation surrounding Taiwan, human rights violations and the protection of biodiversity were also discussed during her meeting with Macron and Xi Jinping.
Macron and von der Leyen wanted to find out how seriously China was taking its role as mediator in the Ukraine war, Nils Schmid, foreign policy spokesman for the German Social Democratic Party (SPD) in the Bundestag, told Table.Media about the visit to Beijing. However, he said it was foreseeable that President Xi would remain vague. Schmid nevertheless assessed the Europeans’ visit as positive. “The leadership in Beijing will have sensed that we will not allow ourselves to be divided”.
Macron’s words to Xi about influencing Moscow are not realistic, commented the Green Party’s European politician Reinhard Buetikofer on Twitter. “And why does he do it with such an ill-conceived, paternalistic tone,” Buetikofer criticized.
Both Europeans had other appointments in Beijing before the tripartite meeting. Macron met with Premier Li Qiang and the Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, Zhao Leji, on Thursday morning. Premier Li, according to media reports, called the French leader the “first major Western politician” to visit China since the beginning of Xi’s third term.
The fact that Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez had already paid an official visit to Beijing last week could certainly have been overlooked, given the powerful visual presentation of Macron’s state visit. The French leader already spent more time with Xi on Thursday than Sánchez did last week. Xi will follow up on Friday with a special honor for Macron. The French President will be allowed to accompany him to the economic metropolis of Guangzhou.
Before the French President embarked on the trip, he had already been criticized at the EU level for the decision to bring a large business delegation to China, as this was contrary to von der Leyen’s message. The latter had spoken out in favor of “de-risking”.
The French and Chinese sides signed several business agreements during the bilateral meeting, including a second production line for Airbus in Tianjin, media reports confirmed. The CEO of the European aircraft manufacturer, Guillaume Faury, confirmed this to AFP. “As the Chinese market continues to grow, it makes perfect sense for us to produce locally for Chinese airlines, and probably other customers in the region,” Faury reportedly said.
Among others, deals also include France’s energy supplier EDF to develop a wind project in Jiangsu, and Alstom is to participate in the Chengdu metro.
Von der Leyen began Thursday morning with a visit to the EU Chamber of Commerce in Beijing. Head of the chamber Joerg Wuttke and industry representatives gave von der Leyen an overview of the many “long-standing challenges” for European companies in China, the Chamber wrote on Twitter. The EU Commission chief accordingly stressed that the EU was not aiming to decouple itself from China, but to rebalance relations.
In a follow-up meeting with Premier Li, von der Leyen sought to establish a personal approach to China. She spoke about her father’s trips to China. Ernst Albrecht had already visited the People’s Republic as Minister-President of the German state of Lower Saxony in the late 1980s. At that time, he brought the first cooperation agreement between a Chinese province and a German state back with him from Anhui, said von der Leyen.
Overall, von der Leyen clearly showed the new, more critical tone towards the big partner in the Far East. China and the EU have benefited greatly from their growing cooperation, but relations have become “more complex” in recent years, she said. It is therefore important to discuss all aspects, which help the EU and China “navigate through a difficult and unpredictable environment“. According to von der Leyen, the CAI investment agreement was not addressed at the meetings. She mentioned examples of risk mitigation to both Xi and Li, according to von der Leyen.
The very different opinions of the European guests in Chinese media continued on Thursday. Macron’s visit was “a positive example and valuable experience for other Western countries on how to get along with China”, wrote the party newspaper Global Times. “It is clear to everyone that being a strategic vassal of Washington is a dead end.” Von der Leyen’s approach was again described as US-directed.
The talks with the Europeans were not the only high-profile diplomatic meeting on Thursday: The foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia and Iran met in Beijing to discuss important details on resuming their bilateral relations. The agreement to do so had been brokered by China in March.
A video broadcast by Saudi state media showed Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahin and his Saudi counterpart Prince Faisal bin Farhan al Saud shaking hands – with Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang standing in the middle. It remained unclear whether the meeting had also been deliberately scheduled for Thursday.
The three-way meeting between EU Commission President von der Leyen and Presidents Xi and Macron is worthy of a special edition on Maundy Thursday. Even though there were no brand-new positions on closer inspection, a change in mood was noticeable.
The effort of the summit so close to Easter definitely did something for diplomacy. Von der Leyen and Xi met in person. And according to EU representatives, Xi has at least shown a willingness to talk to the Ukrainian president – in due course and if the mood suits, as they say.
Read what Xi currently has to contribute to solving the war in Europe in our current report by Amelie Richter. Our conclusion: It is good that the meeting took place, but it was not a great success in terms of content.
Today, we learned: EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen continued speaking openly and directly. Together with the eloquent Frenchman Macron, she met a cooperative Xi Jinping. At least on a verbal level, he was quite willing to make concessions.
France’s Head of State Emmanuel Macron and EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen personally called on Beijing to influence Moscow to stop the Ukraine war. Whether the Europeans found an ear with China’s President Xi Jinping was still questionable immediately after the meetings on Thursday. At a joint press conference with Macron, Xi resorted to his usual choice of words without directly addressing Russia and urged “restraint from all political partners”. Peace talks must resume as soon as possible, Xi said. He stressed that attacks on civilians and civilian facilities must be ceased, and the use of nuclear weapons prevented. Xi thus followed the content of the 12-point peace plan presented by Beijing.
During the roughly one-and-a-half-hour bilateral meeting, Macron clearly and directly wooed China’s President: “I know I can count on you to bring Russia to its senses, and bring everyone back to the negotiating table,” the French President told Xi, according to the AFP news agency. The Russian attack against Ukraine represented a blow to stability in Europe, Macron stressed, calling for a “sustainable, long-term peace”. The meeting between the presidents was “open and constructive”, Élysée sources said afterward. Xi himself described the meeting as “friendly and profound”.
After a trilateral meeting with Xi and Macron, EU Commission President von der Leyen emphasized her firm support for the peace plan of Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. That is, not for Xi’s plan, but for Kyiv’s own competing concept. After the tripartite meeting, only the head of the EU Commission and the French president made statements. Xi did not make another statement. She had asked Xi to speak with Zelenskiy, von der Leyen said in a separate press conference afterward.
Xi reiterated his willingness to do so, given the right conditions and time, von der Leyen said. “I think this is a positive element.” She said she was counting on China not to supply military equipment to Russia, either directly or indirectly. “Arming the aggressor is a clear violation of international law. This would indeed significantly harm the relationship between the European Union and China,” the EU Commission chief stressed. According to von der Leyen, the situation surrounding Taiwan, human rights violations and the protection of biodiversity were also discussed during her meeting with Macron and Xi Jinping.
Macron and von der Leyen wanted to find out how seriously China was taking its role as mediator in the Ukraine war, Nils Schmid, foreign policy spokesman for the German Social Democratic Party (SPD) in the Bundestag, told Table.Media about the visit to Beijing. However, he said it was foreseeable that President Xi would remain vague. Schmid nevertheless assessed the Europeans’ visit as positive. “The leadership in Beijing will have sensed that we will not allow ourselves to be divided”.
Macron’s words to Xi about influencing Moscow are not realistic, commented the Green Party’s European politician Reinhard Buetikofer on Twitter. “And why does he do it with such an ill-conceived, paternalistic tone,” Buetikofer criticized.
Both Europeans had other appointments in Beijing before the tripartite meeting. Macron met with Premier Li Qiang and the Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, Zhao Leji, on Thursday morning. Premier Li, according to media reports, called the French leader the “first major Western politician” to visit China since the beginning of Xi’s third term.
The fact that Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez had already paid an official visit to Beijing last week could certainly have been overlooked, given the powerful visual presentation of Macron’s state visit. The French leader already spent more time with Xi on Thursday than Sánchez did last week. Xi will follow up on Friday with a special honor for Macron. The French President will be allowed to accompany him to the economic metropolis of Guangzhou.
Before the French President embarked on the trip, he had already been criticized at the EU level for the decision to bring a large business delegation to China, as this was contrary to von der Leyen’s message. The latter had spoken out in favor of “de-risking”.
The French and Chinese sides signed several business agreements during the bilateral meeting, including a second production line for Airbus in Tianjin, media reports confirmed. The CEO of the European aircraft manufacturer, Guillaume Faury, confirmed this to AFP. “As the Chinese market continues to grow, it makes perfect sense for us to produce locally for Chinese airlines, and probably other customers in the region,” Faury reportedly said.
Among others, deals also include France’s energy supplier EDF to develop a wind project in Jiangsu, and Alstom is to participate in the Chengdu metro.
Von der Leyen began Thursday morning with a visit to the EU Chamber of Commerce in Beijing. Head of the chamber Joerg Wuttke and industry representatives gave von der Leyen an overview of the many “long-standing challenges” for European companies in China, the Chamber wrote on Twitter. The EU Commission chief accordingly stressed that the EU was not aiming to decouple itself from China, but to rebalance relations.
In a follow-up meeting with Premier Li, von der Leyen sought to establish a personal approach to China. She spoke about her father’s trips to China. Ernst Albrecht had already visited the People’s Republic as Minister-President of the German state of Lower Saxony in the late 1980s. At that time, he brought the first cooperation agreement between a Chinese province and a German state back with him from Anhui, said von der Leyen.
Overall, von der Leyen clearly showed the new, more critical tone towards the big partner in the Far East. China and the EU have benefited greatly from their growing cooperation, but relations have become “more complex” in recent years, she said. It is therefore important to discuss all aspects, which help the EU and China “navigate through a difficult and unpredictable environment“. According to von der Leyen, the CAI investment agreement was not addressed at the meetings. She mentioned examples of risk mitigation to both Xi and Li, according to von der Leyen.
The very different opinions of the European guests in Chinese media continued on Thursday. Macron’s visit was “a positive example and valuable experience for other Western countries on how to get along with China”, wrote the party newspaper Global Times. “It is clear to everyone that being a strategic vassal of Washington is a dead end.” Von der Leyen’s approach was again described as US-directed.
The talks with the Europeans were not the only high-profile diplomatic meeting on Thursday: The foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia and Iran met in Beijing to discuss important details on resuming their bilateral relations. The agreement to do so had been brokered by China in March.
A video broadcast by Saudi state media showed Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahin and his Saudi counterpart Prince Faisal bin Farhan al Saud shaking hands – with Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang standing in the middle. It remained unclear whether the meeting had also been deliberately scheduled for Thursday.
