Emmanuel Macron flew to China on Tuesday April 4, arriving in Beijing on Wednesday afternoon. The French head of state does not take this visit lightly, because it signs a reunion with his counterpart Xi Jinping after a long health crisis. The war in Ukraine should be at the center of the exchanges between the two men, but this visit will not neglect trade issues either. Here is what awaits the French president.
A few hours before his departure, Emmanuel Macron spoke on the phone with his American counterpart Joe Biden. According to the Élysée, the two men together set the objective of the visit to China: to convince President Xi Jinping to play a “mediation role” in the war between Russia and Ukraine. As the situation is very tense between the United States and China, it is Emmanuel Macron who has the task of meeting with the Chinese president.
According to the Élysée, “China is the only country in the world in a position to have an immediate and radical impact on the conflict, one way or the other”. Macron and Biden therefore want China to help “accelerate with us the end of the war in Ukraine”.
But before speaking of peace, it will be a question, for Emmanuel Macron, of avoiding at all costs that China falls completely into the camp of Russia. Indeed, the two powers have recently shown signs of rapprochement and Xi Jinping has never condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Ukraine’s allies are now trembling that China will supply arms to Russia. According to Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna, Emmanuel Macron is therefore responsible for telling Chinese leaders “that it is essential to refrain” from supporting the Russian war effort.
“If China makes this fatal decision, there is a major strategic effect on the conflict”, indeed declared the French presidency, adding to wish “to avoid the worst”. Will Emmanuel Macron have to brandish sanctions threats to deter his Chinese counterpart? The proposed method remains confidential.
Emmanuel Macron’s visit to Xi Jinping is also a gesture of “reengagement”, assures the Élysée, as the Covid-19 health crisis has severed personal contact between the two heads of state. Macron and Jinping met in November 2022 in Indonesia, but this official visit to China will be an opportunity to reconnect more deeply.
Upon his arrival in Beijing on Wednesday afternoon, the French President will meet with the French expatriate community. Thursday, before a State dinner, he will meet Chinese leaders, with a sequence in common with the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, to convey a united message. Finally, he will go to Canton on Friday, where he will exchange with Chinese students.
Emmanuel Macron will not travel alone: ??he will be accompanied by some sixty French business owners, including those of Airbus, EDF and Veolia, with an emphasis on energy transition, one of the planetary challenges on which Paris considers it essential to move forward with Beijing. Contract signatures are expected.
The president intends to continue to push for “better access to the Chinese market” and “fair conditions of competition”, as during his visits in 2018 and 2019, explained his entourage.
Emmanuel Macron and Ursula von der Leyen “should not drag the growing authoritarianism of the Chinese government under the carpet,” said Human Rights Watch, fearing that the issue of human rights will be overshadowed during this visit to China. The Élysée ensures that the subject will be discussed, in particular the case of “relatives of French nationals who are in Xinjiang”, a region which is undergoing heavy repression, so that they can “leave China”.