As the conflict in Ukraine continues to escalate, the European Union (EU) faces a difficult balancing act in its relations with China and Russia, Emmanuel Macron and the President of the European Commission jointly visit in Beijing. Both show the will to maintain the dialogue, despite the tensions and disagreements between the EU and China in recent years, despite also the tensions between the United States and China.
Among European leaders seeking to engage with China, two stand out: German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who made his first visit to Beijing in November 2022 and the French leader. The President of the Republic, Emmanuel Macron, has the will, contrary to the visit of his German counterpart, to give an image of ” european pavilion “.
The Élysée wants to send the message of a logic ” with one and the same French and European voice in the relationship with Beijing. “Multipolarity has never been so striking and only a united Europe can speak to a regime like the Chinese regime or for that matter to the regime of Vladimir Putin », stresses Philippe Le Corre, researcher at theAsia Society Policy Institute. ” It is very important that the President of the European Commission is there. In 2019, Emmanuel Macron organized a meeting in Paris between Xi Jinping on the one hand, former German Chancellor Angela Merkel on the other, and the President of the European Commission; the German Chancellor’s visit did not have this pan-European character”, he continues.
According to him, this is the right format to discuss with China, and it is for this reason that the French president chose to go to Beijing accompanied by Ursula Von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission.
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common front
France does not have the will to face China alone, from an economic point of view. “Bilateral Franco-Chinese trade had a structural deficit of around 30 billion euros on the eve of the Covid-19 pandemic, then in 2022, we went to more than 50 billion in trade deficit with China. is colossal “says Emmanuel Véron, specialist in contemporary China at the National Institute of Oriental Languages and Civilizations (Inalco). ” This clearly shows an imbalance, commercial difficulties. And China is playing, not so much the European card as bilaterally to exploit the asymmetry: faced with this, it is important for France to find a European way and that Europe itself can be structured in the face of China. , structured on political but also commercial and industrial or technological subjects”, emphasizes the specialist.
Europe belongs to the Western world, and a break with Beijing would be economically formidable.
On the meeting menu, there are many topics: “Cis quite complicated because of the deterioration of relations”, continues Emmanuel Véron. ” There are commercial subjects, there are industrial subjects and then there are political subjects, precisely between Beijing and Paris, between Beijing and Brussels, particularly on the issue of human rights, of course the situation of UyghursTibetans, and Taiwan, which remains a form of taboo, and more broadly of China as a power in international bodies, such as the UN, and of its role as a responsible power”.
All these subjects will be discussed, in addition to industrial logic and negotiation contracts on aircraft, on energy, on health, on biodiversity.
The EU’s room for maneuver in the face of Beijing
The future direction of Europe’s geopolitical role is at stake at a critical moment, explains Philippe Le Corre. Europe is trying to carve out a place for itself between the giants that are the United States and China, as the war in Ukraine, which is heightening global tensions, unfolds there. “It is not possible to continue normal relations between China and the European Union as long as Beijing is also determined to affirm its support for Vladimir Putin”, explains the researcher.
“Europe finds itself a bit caught between two fires and wants to try to propose a third way. For this, it puts forward the concept of European strategic autonomy, which is a concept that China likes a lot”.
According to him, China seeks to divide the transatlantic community, in particular to separate Europe from the United States. At the same time, he continues, Europe finds it difficult to exist in Asia, on the geopolitical level, because it is a continent much less present on the military level.
China faces its own social and economic realities and its own geopolitical challenges. As a result, the EU remains in Beijing’s eyes the best possible Western partner – and the most promising market. France knows this and keeps the European banner in mind for these reasons.