EU leaders expected to raise Hong Kong in virtual summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping

Coronavirus pandemic puts paid to face-to-face meetings and rapport building as annual summit convenes by phone

Joint statement unlikely this year with European Union determination to raise its concerns with Chinese leadership

Reading Time:3 minutes

This year’s EU-China summit takes place by phone because of the coronavirus pandemic. Photo: Bloomberg

Published: 12:08pm, 22 Jun 2020Updated: 6:47pm, 22 Jun 2020

European Union leaders are expected to put direct pressure on Chinese President Xi Jinping over the issue of Hong Kong on Monday, with a frosty EU-China “virtual” summit unlikely to yield any joint statement this year.

It will be the first encounter between the Chinese leader and Ursula von der Leyen, who was chosen as European Commission president in December with a pledge to build a geopolitical union. They will spend an hour on the phone, just days before Beijing is expected to move forward with the controversial national security law for Hong Kong. Joining them on the call will be European Council President Charles Michel.

“We are trying to exercise influence in expressing our concerns by reaching out actively over the last few days and weeks – and this will be the highest-ranking reaching out on Monday, to our partners in Beijing,” an EU source said.

Another EU source added: “The issue of Hong Kong needs to be addressed as this affects our ability to further develop our relations between the EU and China.”

The conversation with Xi will follow another one, earlier on Monday, with Premier Li Keqiang, in which the EU leaders are expected to focus on the progress of an investment treaty between the European trading bloc and China. Underscoring the lack of progress on the negotiations, EU sources said there would be no joint communique between the two sides this year.

The Covid-19 pandemic disrupted the original plan for von der Leyen and Michel to travel to Beijing and build a personal rapport with their Chinese counterparts. Instead, there will be no face-to-face meetings or opportunities to sit down together and socialise over meals.