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China’s top diplomat calls for closer EU ties as Beijing faces pressure to help end Ukraine war
- In meeting with Wang Yi, EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell urges Beijing to ‘engage with Russia to end the aggression’
- Charming Brussels and trying to stabilise US ties while supporting Moscow will be ‘hard feat’ for Wang, analyst says
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China and Europe should strengthen cooperation for the sake of global stability, China’s top diplomat Wang Yi told European Union foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell, who urged Beijing to use its influence in Moscow to help end the war in Ukraine.
In a meeting with Borrell on the sidelines of a global security conference in Munich on Saturday, Wang, China’s former foreign minister, now in charge of the Communist Party’s Central Foreign Affairs Commission, stressed that China and the EU were not “rivals”.
Wang said “both sides should maintain openness and cooperation, resist decoupling and work together to maintain the stability of the global production and supply chain”, according to the Chinese foreign ministry.
Wang said China, having successfully pulled through the pandemic, was ready to fully resume exchanges with Europe and the rest of the world. He also urged Beijing and Brussels to prepare for another China-EU leaders’ meeting.
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“The two sides can actively prepare for a new meeting between Chinese and European leaders, make full use of the high-level dialogue mechanism in various fields and promote exchanges between the two sides to return to pre-epidemic levels as soon as possible,” Wang said.
Wang noted that this year is the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the China-EU comprehensive strategic partnership and called on both sides to remain committed to the partnership and respect each other’s core interests.
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China’s calls for closer EU ties come as it faces pressure from the West in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Beijing has portrayed itself as neutral and has refused to denounce the invasion. It has also strengthened its economic and political cooperation with Moscow as the US and European powers have hit Russia with sanctions for starting the war.
02:44
Nato chief says China ‘learning lessons’ from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
Nato chief says China ‘learning lessons’ from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
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