China vows closer ties with France, as EU relations remain strained over Lithuania’s Taiwan moves

Name: Taiwanese supporters queue up to buy Lithuanian rum held up by mainland China
Uploaded: 2022-02-17T12:58:19.000Z
Duration: 1 min 48 s
Description: Taiwanese supporters queue up to buy Lithuanian rum held up by mainland China

Xi Jinping’s call for mutual respect and benefit accompanied by praise for French efforts to ‘enhance the strategic autonomy of Europe’

Latest Beijing-EU tensions stem from Lithuania’s ties with Taiwan, with the tiny Baltic nation seen to be acting as a US proxy

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Chinese President Xi Jinping
greets EU leaders via video link in December 2020. Photo: Xinhua

Amber Wang

Published: 8:58pm, 17 Feb 2022Updated: 9:56pm, 17 Feb 2022

Chinese President Xi Jinping has pledged closer ties with France, in a move seen as highlighting Beijing’s hopes of improving EU relations through Paris – the current holder of the rotating European Council presidency.

This came as Xi and French President Emmanuel Macron held talks over the phone on Wednesday, reaching six agreements on bilateral cooperation, in sectors including agriculture, green manufacturing, finance, aviation, and third-party market investment.

The talks come at a time of strained China-European Union relations, starting with tit-for-tat sanctions last year over Beijing’s human rights records. Their latest tensions stem from Beijing’s dispute with EU member Lithuania over its ties with Taiwan, with the tiny Baltic nation seen to be acting as a US proxy.

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Taiwanese supporters queue up to buy Lithuanian rum held up by mainland China

During the call, Xi praised French efforts to “enhance the strategic autonomy of Europe”, a common expression in Chinese state readouts and often understood as Beijing’s desire for the EU to maintain policies independent of the United States.

China and the EU should uphold a correct understanding of each other, and work with mutual respect for mutual benefit, Xi said.

“The two sides should work together to build the greatest common ground and steer China-EU relations towards new development,” Xi was quoted as saying by Xinhua.

Europe expert Zhao Junjie at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences said Beijing hoped Paris would “play a leading role” in improving its EU ties.