The day of the expected meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping, French counterpart Emmanuel Macron and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen arrived in Beijing. The stakes are high. Macron and von der Leyen should not take any wrong steps in the war in Ukraine and even pretend to believe in Chinese mediation. 27 European countries cannot be satisfied with the relationship between Beijing and Brussels at a time when the conflict between China and the United States is getting hotter.
Von der Leyen, the “bad” cop
It’s not just business. The Elysée president and the Brussels administration sought greater assurances that the Ukrainian and Chinese leader would be willing to play the role of peace broker. “China is willing to work with France to invite the international community to a political solution to the war in Ukraine,” Xi told Macron.
From friendship with Putin to threats to Taiwan: von der Leyen warns China
But these are words that seem like a mantra that the Chinese leader has been proposing since the beginning of the Russian war in Ukraine. But there is an emphasis that the Secretary of the Communist Party of China wishes to place on the relationship between Beijing and Paris, hoping that Macron’s position can coincide with that of the European Union. Von der Leyen, described as the “bad cop” by analysts after the harsh criticism leveled at Beijing on March 30, has dispelled the specter of economic disintegration – for now – but still focuses on reshaping relations between Brussels and Beijing. Number one of the commission underlined that Sino-European relations depend on China’s stance on Putin’s war in Ukraine and Vladimir Putin’s “unlimited” friendship with Russia.
Our economies are strongly interconnected, but the EU trade deficit is widening due to discriminatory practices.
I discussed with Prime Minister Li how to rebalance our trade.
We must continue our High Level Economic and Trade Dialogue to address this issue. pic.twitter.com/aR0qkhYfRw
— Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderlenen) April 6, 2023
Macron’s attempts
Macron has been seeking and waiting for Chinese mediation for months. However, the head of Elysium will hardly find the answer he has been seeking for a while. But the French leader did not give up. “I know I can count on you to bring Russia to mind and everyone to the negotiating table,” Macron tells his Chinese counterpart to prevent the conflict from escalating. The Elysée president, at the time of his confrontation with Xi, advocated “building a sustainable Europe” at the geopolitical level and complained that “if a country is invaded, it is not possible”. The alt text is clear: Ukraine is European.
“We will have to start a tough discussion with Russia for it to respect its principles – we want not only an end to the conflict, but respect for all Ukrainian territory,” he said. Macron urged Beijing to cooperate with Paris to “maintain an international order capable of facing the challenges of these times”.
A cold response comes from Russia. Moscow sees no hope for peace in Ukraine: a “special military operation,” says the Kremlin, is the only way out, and Chinese mediation is therefore rejected. Putin emphasizes that Russia’s current aim is to push the Kiev troops to a safe distance so that they can no longer bombard Donbass.
A phone call (maybe) between Xi and Zelensky soon
The Chinese president does not seem to have changed his stance on the war in Ukraine, which he continues to call a crisis. According to Xi, this policy is the only way forward, as it always adopts general principles – such as those presented in the 12-point “peace plan” – no matter how far removed from the intentions of Volodymyr Zelensky, who wants to restore Ukraine. Territory to the status quo before Russia annexed Crimea in 2014.
Pressure came from Macron and Von der Leyen to get Xi to contact Zelensky, whom he had not spoken to since the start of the war. Xi said he was willing to call the Ukrainian president, but that “time and conditions are most favorable”.
Xi’s boredom
The Chinese president would not like pressure from the head of the Elysée, Politico reported. Macron and Xi spent an hour and a half in bilateral talks before signing various deals and cultural cooperation, including the sale of Airbus planes.
But nothing escaped the attention of Xi’s Chinese entourage. At a press conference after the face-to-face meeting, Macron spoke more than twice as much as the Chinese president. Politico writes that Xi sometimes seems impatient and angry as Macron continues to speak. The Chinese leader reportedly let out a few deep sighs and seemed annoyed when the French president addressed him directly to talk about the war in Ukraine.
In short, Xi appeared to be more interested in the trade dynamics that ensured the strengthening of relations between China and France and between China and Europe, where “there are no conflicts of interest or fundamental contradictions between the two sides”, the nationalist tabloid Global Times underlined. The implicit reference speaks of the strained relations between China and the United States. China seems to want to smile at it to drive Europe away from the US. And France lends itself to the Chinese game.
Source: Today IT

Karen Clayton is a seasoned journalist and author at The Nation Update, with a focus on world news and current events. She has a background in international relations, which gives her a deep understanding of the political, economic and social factors that shape the global landscape. She writes about a wide range of topics, including conflicts, political upheavals, and economic trends, as well as humanitarian crisis and human rights issues.