LA MONGIE (France), May 8 (NNN-AGENCIES) — French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday hosted Chinese leader Xi Jinping for a high-altitude lunch at a childhood haunt in the Pyrenees mountains, pressing a message to Beijing not to support Russia’s war against Ukraine and to accept fairer trade.
The first day of Xi’s state visit to France, his first to Europe since 2019, saw respectful but sometimes robust exchanges between the two men during a succession of talks on Monday.
Macron, joined initially by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, urged Xi not to allow the export of any technology that could be used by Russia in its invasion of Ukraine and asked Beijing to do all it could to end the war.
Xi, for his part, warned the West not to “smear” China over the conflict and also hit back at accusations that Chinese overcapacity was causing global trade imbalances.
Macron welcomed Xi to a mountain restaurant outside the village of Bagnere-de-Bigorre to explore these issues in relative privacy and enjoy local delicacies.
While born and brought up in the north of France, the young “Manu” spent numerous winter and summer holidays with his late maternal grandparents in the area just below the Col du Tourmalet, over 2,000m above sea level and a legendary climb in the Tour de France cycling race.
The inclement weather – with flurries of snow and mist blocking the spectacular views – left the leaders and their wives, Brigitte Macron and Peng Liyuan, firmly entrenched under umbrellas as they watched local dances.
But they were also all smiles as they enjoyed local wine in the cosy chalet-style restaurant, with Macron offering gifts including berets and a Tour de France yellow jersey.
Europe is concerned that while officially neutral over the Ukraine conflict, Beijing is essentially backing Russia, which is using Chinese machine tools for weapons production.
The other two countries chosen by Xi for his European tour after France – Serbia and Hungary – are seen as among the most sympathetic to Moscow in Europe.
After a bilateral meeting with Xi, Macron welcomed China’s “commitments” not to supply arms to Russia, while also expressing concern over possible deliveries of dual-use technology.
He thanked Xi for backing his idea of a truce in all conflicts including Ukraine during the Paris Olympics this summer and pointedly added that France was not seeking “regime change” in Russia.
Xi, who is due to host Russian President Vladimir Putin in China later this month, warned against using the Ukraine crisis “to cast blame, smear a third country and incite a new Cold War”.
Writing in Serbian daily Politika ahead of arriving in Belgrade later on Tuesday, Xi criticised NATO for its “flagrant” bombing of the Chinese embassy in Yugoslavia in 1999, warning Beijing would “never allow such tragic history to repeat itself”. — NNN-AGENCIES
