Macron accused of 'flattering tyrants' as he poses with Xi Jinping
French President Emmanuel Macron has been accused of ‘flattering tyrants’ and ‘rolling out the red carpe’ for Chinese President Xi Jinping as the two leaders posed alongside their wives at the Elysee Palace.
Macron was joined by Ursula von de Leyen, the European Commission chief, as they met Jinping, who is financially and diplomatically supporting Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine.
The meeting was hosted amid threats of a trade war between Europe and China centered on electric cars and Cognac.
France is backing an EU inquiry into Chinese electric vehicle exports, and in January, Beijing spearheaded an investigation into French-made imports of brandy.
Ahead of Jinping’s first visit to the EU in five years, Macron told the French newspaper La Tribune that an update of relations was necessary ‘because China now has excess capacity in many areas and exports massively to Europe’.
French President Emmanuel Macron (2nd L) and his wife Brigitte Macron (L) welcome Chinese President Xi Jinping (2nd R) and his wife Peng Liyuan (R) at Elysee Palace in Paris, France on 6 May 2024
This is Jinping’s first EU appearance in five-years as the two world leaders discuss a looming trade war between Europe and China centred on electric cars and Cognac
Xi Jinping arrives at the Elysee Palace to meet Emmanuel Macron, as their wives shake hands on the red carpet
Macron is set to take his Chinese counterpart on a personal trip of the Pyrenees – the birthplace of his grandmother, while Jinping praised the ties between the two nations after touching down in Paris.
In a statement, he claimed that ties between the two nations were a ‘model for the international community of peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation between countries with different social systems’.
‘The future of our continent will very clearly depend on our ability to continue to develop relations with China in a balanced manner,’ Macron said at the start of a trilateral meeting.
However, Macron was slammed for ‘rolling out the red carpet’ for a ‘dictator’ who is backing Russia’s deadly war efforts.
French MEP and Left-leaning European election candidate Raphaël Glucksmann, said Macron was just attempting to get into autocrats’ good books.
He wrote in Le Monde: ‘You roll out the red carpet and you even invite (Xi Jinping) to a place dear to your childhood in the Pyrenees, an intimate place that is supposed to dress this special relationship that you dream of the in the cloak of friendship.
‘And as usual, you will justify such obsequiousness towards a dictator by saying that you have to be realistic.
‘But there is nothing ‘realistic’ about your obsequious attitude…Without China’s help, Russia would not have been able to cope with Western sanctions and mount such a war effort’.
In an interview with France Inter, he continued: ‘Because Xi Jinping is not our friend: as well as having deported the Uyghur people, repressed the Tibetans and Hong Kong citizens and threatened the Taiwanese, Xi Jinping is the main supporter of Putin’s war in Ukraine.
‘Without China’s help, Russia would not have been able to continue this war. It’s not by flattering tyrants that we demonstrate realism,’ he said.
Macron was slammed for ‘rolling out the red carpet’ for a ‘dictator’ who is backing Russia’s deadly war efforts
Emmanuel Macron (2nd L) and his wife Brigitte (L) pose for the photographers alongside Chinese President Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan, during their two-day state visit
China’s President Xi Jinping’s wife Peng Liyuan, and French President Emmanuel Macron’s wife Brigitte Macron speak as they visit the Orsay Museum
Emmanuel Macron is to host Xi Jinping for a state visit on May 6, 2024, seeking to persuade the Chinese leader to shift positions over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and also imbalances in global trade
China has long maintained it is neutral in the war, but Beijing and Moscow have deepened their ties since the full-scale invasion began, with tyrant Putin expected to visit China this month.
On Sunday night, Leyen signalled the EU’s continued discontent with China which she claimed was ‘currently manufacturing with massive subsidies’.
An oversupply of cars and steel due to weak demand at home was leading to unfair trade unacceptable market distorting practices that ‘could lead to deindustrialisation in Europe’ and loss of jobs – especially within the German car industry.
READ HERE: Macron vows to send TROOPS to Ukraine if Putin’s forces break through front lines and Zelensky asks for reinforcements – further raising the risk of NATO going head-to-head with Russia
Macron will attempt to talk Jinping out of retaliating over the electric vehicle investigation, potentially with import duties on French cognac and agricultural produce.
‘For trade to be fair, access to both markets needs to be reciprocal,’ Leyen said after the meeting.
‘Our market is and remains open to fair competition and to investments, but it is not good for Europe if it harms our security and makes us vulnerable.’
She said that Europe ‘will not waver from making tough decisions needed to protect its economy and its security.’
On Ukraine, Leyen urged Jinping to stand by China’s commitment not to provide any lethal equipment to Russia.
She said she encouraged him to exert more effort to curtail dual use goods to Russia that end up on the battlefield in Ukraine.
‘Given the existential nature stemming from this threat for both Ukraine and Europe, this does affect the EU-China relations,’ she said.
Following Monday’s summit, Macron and his wife Brigitte, will host Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan, to a state banquet.
On Tuesday, Macron will take the Chinese leader to the Pyrenees mountains where the two couples are expected to take a cable car up to the summit of the 9,439ft Pic du Midi, a dark sky reserve.
After crapping up his trip in France, Jinping will head to Serbia where he will arrive in Belgrade on the 25th anniversary of the bombing of the Chinese Embassy for talks with President Aleksandar Vucic.
The Chinese leader will then travel on May 8 to Budapest, the final stop on his European tour.
There he will meet Hungarian President Viktor Orban, the most Russia-friendly leader in the EU.
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