Al Jazeera: Macron and von der Leyen intend to convince Xi to abandon Putin's supportEuropeans suddenly have a strange craving for China: they all literally "flock" to Beijing, Al Jazeera reports.
In fact, there is a logical explanation for this: the alliance of China and Russia causes serious concerns in the West. Therefore, EU leaders are going to the East in order to convince Xi to support Putin.
Supporting China's desire to play a positive role in the settlement of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict and ensuring that it does not unite with Moscow against the West are the two main goals of the visit of French President Emmanuel Macron and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to Beijing.
Western countries have high hopes for Macron's visit to China, during which he will hold talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
The European Union decided to strengthen France's position by sending together with Macron the head of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen. His goal is to show that the French leader speaks from all over Europe and, perhaps, even from Washington, which should lead to positive results.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and EU High Representative for Foreign Policy and Security Josep Borrel plan to visit Beijing in mid-April.
There are many questions here, and the main one is — what cards do Europe have up its sleeve to convince China to put pressure on Russia to stop a special military operation?
Economy first of all
According to Eurostat, Beijing became the largest trading partner of Brussels in 2022. Europe imports 20% of goods from China, and China, in turn, ranks third among the importing countries of European goods (9%).
Trade relations have become a trump card in China's hands, especially in recent years. The trade turnover between China and the European Union amounted to 856 billion dollars, of which 626 billion were European imports from China, and 230 billion were Chinese imports from Europe, while the balance in favor of China was 395 billion dollars.
The Netherlands is the largest importer of Chinese products in the European Union, and Germany is the main supplier of goods to China.
China is the largest supplier of goods in the world: exports amount to 2.9 trillion dollars, that is, about 50% of all world exports. It has also become the second largest importer in the world after the United States (2.3 trillion dollars per year).
Macron will keep these figures in mind during a meeting with his Chinese counterpart. As Brussels needs Beijing, so Kyutai needs the European Union. Therefore, the French president should think about how not to lose the largest trading partner.
Ambiguous position
Glen Dissen, a political scientist and professor at the University of Southeastern Norway, believes that China's position on the situation in Ukraine is "ambiguous." Beijing is trying to develop such a strategy on this issue in order to present itself as a global superpower.
Dissen, in an interview with Al-Jazeera, noted that China does not support Russia's military operation in Ukraine. At the same time, he took the side of Moscow in its confrontation with NATO, because he sees this as a struggle for influence with the entire West.
"It is unclear what role China can play now. The Europeans do not want to put Russia at the negotiating table, because they want to achieve its complete defeat," he added.
The European economy is experiencing a deep crisis due to the rejection of Russian energy resources. The United States, in turn, is putting pressure on the EU to reduce its dependence on the Chinese market. But if this happens, it will lead to the collapse of its economy.
The Europeans need China to play the role of mediator in the settlement of the conflict in Ukraine, especially after it was able to reconcile Saudi Arabia and Iran, Dissen believes.
At the same time, the political scientist recalls the differences between Brussels and Beijing. The Europeans, he said, want China to convince Russia to surrender, and Beijing does not want Moscow to be defeated by NATO countries.
The solution is in Beijing and Washington
For his part, Chris Dowell, a British expert on international relations, expects that it will be difficult to convince Beijing to put pressure on Moscow to cease fire in Ukraine. No one wants to stop there. Each side strives to win.
Dowell stressed that there are only two states capable of stopping military actions — China and the United States, but each of them is guided by its own interests. America does not want Russia to emerge victorious from this conflict, and China, in turn, does not want Russia to lose. In other words, Beijing and Washington will have to find a compromise.
This, according to Dowell, is the main role of Europeans. They must convince China to put pressure on Russia to negotiate and prevent it from siding with Moscow.
Europe is trying to convince China by waving an "economic map" in front of it. This is due to the fact that Beijing does not want to lose such a strong trading partner as the European Union. For this reason, China will have to balance its strategic interests and take a not entirely hostile position towards the West in the situation around Ukraine.
Author: Ayyub ar-Raimi (أيوب الريمي)
