Europe is ‘counting on China’ to end Russia’s war in Ukraine, leaders tell Xi Jinping in Beijing

European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen and French President Emmanuel Macron deliver united message to Chinese president during visit
But as French leader signed over 20 business deals on China trip, EU chief took sterner line with Xi on economic grievances, human rights and Taiwan

China-EU relations

Finbarr Berminghamin Brussels

Published: 1:11am, 7 Apr 2023

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Europe is “counting on China” to help end Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

That was the message delivered personally to Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing on Thursday by both European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and French President Emmanuel Macron.

Von der Leyen said China, as a permanent member of the United Nations’ Security Council, “has a big responsibility to use its influence in a friendship that is built on decades with Russia”.

“We count on China to really exert also this responsibility and to be very clear in the messaging,” the German said.

Chinese President Xi Jinping (centre) alongside Macron and von de Leyen in Beijing on Thursday. Photo: AFP

Earlier in the day and speaking before journalists, Macron told Xi: “I know I can count on you to bring Russia to its senses and everyone to the negotiating table.”

Addressing media gathered at the EU’s Beijing headquarters following meetings with Xi – first with and then without Macron – and Chinese Premier Li Qiang, the commission chief said she had warned both that providing arms to Russia would “significantly harm our relationship”.

Asked by Macron to not provide arms to Russia, Xi replied that it was “not his war”, according to a Reuters report citing a French diplomatic source.

Asked whether Xi had committed to speaking to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky – who has for months been asking publicly to speak with the Chinese leader by phone, then inviting him to Kyiv in person, von der Leyen said no firm promise had been made.

“So it was interesting to hear that President Xi reiterated his willingness to speak when conditions and time are right,” she said. “I think this is a positive element.”

In meeting with Macron, Xi Jinping calls for political solution in Ukraine

It amounted to a united EU front on Ukraine, but it was not immediately clear whether Xi was willing to offer any assurances of using Chinese leverage to call off Russia.

A statement posted by the Chinese foreign ministry largely reiterated previous statements Xi has made on the war. “China insists on promoting peace talks and a political settlement,” it read.

It added that Beijing “is willing to work with France to call on the international community to” address a range of issues from targeting civilians to the use of nuclear weapons.

“Macron and von der Leyen both made clear that China has a responsibility to use its influence with Russia to end the war and that Europe is counting on Xi to do so,” said Noah Barkin, an analyst of EU-China relations at Rhodium Group, a research house.

“But there were no obvious concessions from Xi. He did not condemn Russia’s plans to station nuclear weapons in Belarus. Nor did he commit to speaking with Ukrainian President Zelensky.”

On many other fronts, however, von der Leyen took a sterner line than the French president, who was accompanied on his three-day, cross-country trip with 53 business leaders and took the opportunity to pursue deeper business ties with China.

Macron’s entourage signed more than 20 business deals, indicating France had no interest in curtailing its economic ties with China. Further deals could be signed in Guangzhou on Friday, where Xi planned to treat his French counterpart to an informal dinner in a surprise location, Paris officials said.

One deal will crack open China’s pork sector to French pig farmers. Another will see Alstom supply an electric traction system for Chengdu metro system. Energy giant EDF secured nuclear power and wind accords, while French shipping firm CMA CGM sealed a biofuels deal with two state-owned Chinese conglomerates.

Officials had downplayed the suggestion that von der Leyen would play the “bad cop” to Macron’s “good”, but it was left to the German to hone in on prickly aspects of the relationship with China, including economic grievances, human rights, and cross-strait tensions with Taiwan.

The European Commission chief told Xi that EU businesses were fed up with Chinese economic practices.

China hits back at Nato ‘slander and attacks’ on Beijing’s Ukraine war stand

“I conveyed that European Union businesses in China are concerned by unfair practices in some sectors under practices that impede their access to the Chinese market,” von der Leyen said.

She confirmed that the EU wanted to “reassess” a long-negotiated investment pact with China, even if it was not directly discussed with Xi.

“We started negotiations 10 years ago and concluded two years ago, a lot has happened since then … we have seen during that time further deterioration in market access for EU companies in China,” she said.

Von der Leyen said she pushed Xi on thorny topics like Taiwan and human rights.

“I expressed our deep concerns about deterioration of the human rights situation in China,” she noted. “The situation in Xinjiang is particularly concerning.”

On Taiwan, she said she told Xi that “the threat to use force to change the status quo is unacceptable. It is important that some of the tensions that might occur should be resolved through dialogue”.

The trip came a week after von der Leyen delivered a high-profile speech on China in Brussels, in which she called for a “de-risking” of the trade relationship by reducing European dependencies on China for critical commodities and restricting the flow of sensitive technologies to the world’s second-largest economy.

Experts said the commission would face a challenge in getting member states on board with a strategy that could ratchet up trade tensions with China – a sentiment that was borne out by Thursday’s exchanges in Beijing.

“By bringing von der Leyen along with him, Emmanuel Macron wanted to showcase European unity but also the French European leadership,” said Marc Julienne, head of China research at the Institut Français des Relations Internationales, a French think tank.

China’s new premier calls for more ‘practical cooperation’ with Russia

“At the end of the day, President Macron was not able to address critical issues like trade deficit, stability in the Taiwan Strait or human rights, instead promoting deeper economic exchanges,” he added.

“Von der Leyen, on the contrary, demonstrated an attitude of great confidence and did not avoid any topic with Xi Jinping.”

Barkin at Rhodium Group noted a difference in tone between the two European leaders.

“While she stressed the need to de-risk, Macron spoke of reducing barriers to trade and investment. There was no indication that he buys into the need for tougher export controls or restrictions on outbound investment,” he said.

“And he will have comforted Xi by reaffirming his commitment to strategic autonomy, a concept the Chinese have embraced more than France’s European partners.”

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