Emmanuel Macron’s black sedan stopped at the foot of the steps of the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, in front of a cheerful Xi Jinping. This Thursday, April 6, facing the deserted Tiananmen Square and under close surveillance, the two leaders seal their reunion in the splendor reserved for state visits, after three years of the Covid-19 pandemic which cut off China from the rest of the world. . “Nothing beats human contact”summarizes the President of the Republic after reviewing the Chinese troops, while twenty-one cannon shots resound against a background of Marseillaise and the Chinese national anthem.
Some 8,000 kilometers from the tumult of the social crisis that is shaking France, Emmanuel Macron hoped to work for peace in Ukraine by making his Chinese counterpart, if not a mediator, at least a moderating voice with Moscow, whose aggression, he recalled, “ended decades of peace in Europe”. After the vain French attempts against Vladimir Putin, China, which claims a “boundless friendship” with Russia, could, he thinks, have more success with the Kremlin host. “I know I can count on you to bring Russia to its senses and bring everyone back to the negotiating table”launches the French head of state to Xi Jinping at the start of their face-to-face meeting.
But “path of peace” that Emmanuel Macron hopes to draw promises to be long and tortuous. Despite the frank handshakes between the two men, Xi Jinping is content with small steps. Without breaking with the benevolence shown towards Moscow, the leader of the Chinese Communist Party sticks to declarations of principle on chemical weapons and the use of nuclear fire, and pleads evasively for “a resumption of peace talks as soon as possible”. After his high-profile visit to Moscow on March 21, Mr. Xi would be ready, according to French diplomats, to speak to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, but only “when the conditions are met”.
Emmanuel Macron also did not obtain from the Chinese president that he condemn the decision taken by Vladimir Putin, just after their meeting in the Kremlin, to install nuclear warheads in Belarus. “What is not in accordance with the commitments made to you, to us and to international law”points out the French president.
” Cold shower “
Basically, Emmanuel Macron doubts the intentions of his interlocutor. And be careful not to play « bravaches », he says, admitting that he is not clear on which side China could go. Even before the arrival of the French President and the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen in Beijing, Prime Minister Li Qiang had had his first telephone conversation with his Russian counterpart. “Beijing and Moscow are deepening their relations” titled the China Dailya daily newspaper of the Communist Party. “A real cold shower”, observes a French diplomat. On Thursday, the same daily condemned Finland’s membership of NATO. “Now that Europe wants China to help hasten the end of the crisis in Ukraine (…)it should at least begin to rethink the policy of NATO which [consiste à] seek absolute security at the expense of the security of others, which has become the main source of global instability. »
You have 59.3% of this article left to read. The following is for subscribers only.