Chinese President Xi Jinping initiated a three-country alliance. trip to Europe Sunday with the continent divided over how to deal with Beijing's growing power and the rivalry between the United States and China.
European automakers are losing ground subsidized Chinese electric vehicles. Diplomats worry about alleged chinese spies in European capitals. And China's continued defense trade with Russia worries anyone in Europe who supports War-torn Ukraine and fears that the Russian army will not stop there.
But Europe and China have strong economic ties (trade between the EU and China is estimated at €2.3 billion a day) and Xi appears determined to rebuild and deepen relations with European leaders after a prolonged absence caused by the coronavirus pandemic. COVID-19.
Xi began Sunday in France, whose president wants Europe to have more economic and strategic independence of other world powers. The Chinese president then heads to Serbia and Hungary, both countries considered friends of China and close to Russian President Vladimir Putin, and recipients of significant Chinese investments.
Xi's trip will be closely watched in Washington for signs of waning European support for his key foreign policy goals. At the same time, there is growing uncertainty in Europe about future US support for its transatlantic allies.
Xi was greeted at Paris Orly airport by French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal and by protests from groups demanding that France pressure China to respect the rights of Tibetan and Uyghur minorities. Activists seeking a free Tibet attempted to unfurl a banner Saturday beneath the Arc de Triomphe in Paris and protested in the French capital around the same time Xi's plane landed.
After arriving, Xi said he hoped the visit would bring “strategic convergence” between China and France, and that further development of their relations would contribute to “stability and positive energy in a turbulent world,” according to a text provided to journalists at the airport.
On Monday, French President Emmanuel Macron will provide the Chinese leader with the formal honors of a full state visit. They will also meet with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who is expected to join Macron in pushing for fairer trade policies and for China to use her influence over Russia to push it to end the war in Ukraine.
The EU launched an investigation last fall into Chinese subsidies and could impose tariffs on electric vehicles exported from China.
China claims to be neutral in the Ukraine conflict but has refused to call the full-blown Russian attack on its neighbor an invasion and has been accused of bolstering Russia's ability to produce weapons.