Qin Gang, the Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs, began a visit to Europe on Monday, May 8, which will take him to Germany, France and then Norway, his ministry said. This visit, scheduled until Friday, comes at a time when China is seeking to get closer to Europe in a context of tensions with the United States, and intends to play a mediating role in the war in Ukraine.
No details were given on the subjects that will be discussed during this trip. But Wang Wenbin, a spokesperson for Chinese diplomacy, said Qin Gang will meet with his German counterpart Annalena Baerbock, French foreign minister Catherine Colonna and Norwegian Foreign Minister Anniken Huitfeldt.
The visit comes nearly two weeks after a long-awaited call between Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky, the first since the Russian offensive in Ukraine began on February 24, 2022.
The trip of the Chinese minister also comes after controversial statements at the end of April by the Chinese ambassador to France. The countries of the former USSR “do not have the effective status in international law because there is no international agreement to concretize their status as sovereign countries”, said Lu Shaye, questioned at the television on the Ukrainian province of Crimea annexed since 2014 by Moscow.
These remarks had provoked an outcry in the States concerned. Paris had then called on the Chinese ambassador “to use his public speech in accordance with the official positions of his country”.
