The French Foreign Minister’s two-day visit to China is an opportunity to gauge Beijing’s attitude toward Ukraine ahead of major talks on a possible European peacekeeping force.
France’s Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot has started a two-day visit to China, holding talks with his Chinese counterpart on the war in Ukraine and longstanding trade disputes between China and Europe.
Barrot met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who said in a news conference that both countries should “choose multilateralism over unilateralism…and pursue mutual benefit and win-win outcomes instead of decoupling and isolation”.
His words echoed language frequently used by China to criticise US foreign policy and the Western-led global order.
Barrot later met with Premier Li Qiang, who said, “As we all know, the world is currently not peaceful, and instability and uncertainty are increasing.”
“As two independent and responsible major countries, China and France should strengthen cooperation. Through our cooperation, we should inject more certainty into bilateral relations and the world,” said Li.
Barrot said the world was “indeed going through troubled times where a number of major principles, particularly those of multilateralism, are being shaken.”
“In this context, a new Europe is rapidly emerging, its only compass being strategic autonomy. This new Europe is investing massively in its defence, in energy,” the minister told reporters.
On Friday, Barrot is due to travel to Shanghai for meetings with local officials and business leaders.
Support for Ukraine
While France has been a staunch supporter of Ukraine in its struggle against Russia’s invasion, Beijing has backed Russia diplomatically and provided an economic lifeline by buying Russian natural resources.
Barrot’s visit is an opportunity to gauge China’s attitude on Ukraine ahead of a major French-hosted meeting on a possible peacekeeping force for the country.
The talks come as fissures have emerged between the US and Europe over continued support for Ukraine, with Washington increasingly seen as backing Moscow.
French President Emmanuel Macron said on Wednesday that a proposes European armed force could be deployed in Ukraine in under an eventual peace deal, and could “respond” to a Russian were Moscow to launch one.
Europe has long complained of unfair Chinese trade practices that it says force European companies to take on Chinese partners, share business practices and result in a major Chinese trade surpluses.
The sides also issued a joint statement reaffirming cooperation on climate change marking the 10th anniversary of the Paris Agreement, saying “the agreement and its long-term goals even more requires all parties to inject political impetus into the international cooperation on jointly fighting climate change (and) protecting biodiversity and ecosystems.”
China is both the largest producer and consumer of fossil fuels, mainly coal.
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