Beijing wishes a France strong enough not to follow Washington blindly, but weak enough not to thwart its own ambitions.
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The message of congratulations that Xi Jinping sent to Emmanuel Macron on Monday April 25 is not only protocol. According to the China Nouvelle agency, the Chinese president stressed that relations between the two countries are characterized by “independence, mutual understanding, foresight, mutual benefits and mutually beneficial results”. Independence is cited twice in the press release. All in its rivalry with the United States, China regularly supports “strategic autonomy” put forward not the French president.
editorial of the Global Times, Tuesday April 26 , proves. The nationalist daily also congratulates Mr. Macron. “Improving China-France relations is consistent with the strengthening of Europe’s strategy autonomy. We congratulate Macron for his re-election and hope that China-France relationships will be able to continue to progress and that European China-Union relations will be able to continue To progress regularly during his second term, “writes the newspaper, a subsidiary of the very official China Daily. He devotes one of his three editorials to France on Tuesday. “China is ready to work with the French part to push the bilateral relationship to a new level”, writes the newspaper .
Beijing knows that France played an important role, alongside Germany, to allow the conclusion of the end of the investment agreement (CAI) between China and the European Union. China even hoped – apparently in vain – that the French Presidency of the European Union, during this semester, would allow us to unlock its ratification by the European Parliament. In addition, if Germany is China’s first economic partner in Europe, Beijing knows that two of the three parties of the power coalition in Berlin – the Greens and the Liberals – are hostile to it. The visit to Japan that Chancellor Olaf Scholz must make this week also risks being perceived by Beijing as a distance from Berlin towards him. All the more reason not to neglect the Sino-Française relationship.
communicated without effusion
Neither Xi Jinping, Nor the Global Times, nor China Daily, evoke the Indo-Pacific strategy of France, a discord between the two countries. China wants a France strong enough not to blindly follow Washington, but weak enough not to thwart its own ambitions.
In the Chinese press release, Xi Jinping does not discuss his personal relationship with Emmanuel Macron at any time. It is not always the same. On April 5, in the aftermath of the victory of Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, known for his nationalism and his proximity to Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping not only congratulated him, but also specified that he” appreciates his good working relations and his friendship with President Vucic “ . A few days later, six Chinese military planes landed in Belgrade to deliver sol-Air anti-aircraft defense batteries.
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