China has begun to distance itself from the war in Ukraine to re-establish ties with the European Union (EU) that had suffered for the past three years due to Covid and the ongoing conflict in Europe. Beijing has said that its “no limit” partnership with Russia was nothing but rhetoric.
But during his talks with French President Emmanuel Macron and European Commission chief Ursula van der Leyen, Chinese President Xi Jinping gave no indication that he was willing to abandon Russia — a relationship from which Beijing has gained significantly, both strategically and economically, in the past two years.
China has not condemned Russia for its invasion of Ukraine and has argued that Moscow’s legitimate security concerns will have to be taken into account. However, it has also said that a country's sovereignty and territorial integrity needs to be respected.
European leaders believe China is the only country that can play an important role in resolving the Ukraine crisis.
Macron, closely followed by van der Leyen, came on a three-day visit to China on Thursday to mend relations between the two sides. Macron came to the country with a 60-member strong business delegation. The focus of the visit was also to ascertain the extent of Chinese support for Russia in the war with Ukraine.
Before his visit, Macron spoke to US President Joe Biden, indicating that the American leader has been kept in the loop.
Macron’s visit to China, the first since 2019, is part of a string of visits by European leaders to Beijing in the past few months.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholtz visited the country with a large business delegation to strengthen economic ties in November last year. The Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sanchez Perez-Castejon, visited China in March.
These visits indicate the keenness of the countries to revive economic ties with China as the two-year-long Ukraine conflict has seriously strained the European economy.
The war has also affected China’s relations with Europe, which sees the country as a close ally of Russia, and is helping it overcome the crippling US sanctions.
China’s bilateral trade with Europe in 2021 was over $706 billion, making it the country’s largest trade partner, overtaking America.
Macron and Van der Leyen tried to convince Xi to use his influence with Russian President Vladmir Putin to end his military offensive in Ukraine and resume negotiations.
In the run-up to their visit, through a series of interviews in the western media, China tried to make it clear that its “no limit” relationship with Russia was nothing more than rhetoric. Xi assured the visiting European leaders that China was not supplying arms to Russia, a concern that has been widely publicised in the past few weeks in the US and Europe. This came as a relief to the Europeans as they realised that no military alliance between Russia and China was in the offing.
Xi also stressed that Ukraine was not his war and that the crisis is not an issue between China and the EU, and added that China will continue to play a positive role in facilitating peace talks.
But experts doubt if China enjoys the kind of influence that will convince Moscow to give up its strategic objectives and return to the talks table to shore up Beijing’s international standing.
“There is little to suggest that Russia will do so on Chinese bidding,” DB Venkatesh Varma, India’s former ambassador to Russia and a leading Russia expert, said.
In a paper for the Delhi-based think-tank Vivekananda International Foundation, he had analysed Sino-Russian relations in the aftermath of President Xi’s three-day visit to Moscow in March. Varma had argued that Russia will not forgo military gains in Ukraine to enhance Chinese global standing.
Sensing that the Chinese peace plan is part of a broader global diplomatic offensive, Putin did not give Xi anything to help him gain leverage with the US or EU on a possible peace settlement in Ukraine, said Varma.
“Russia is aware that China will not help it in any substantive way in its war with Ukraine at the cost of its relations with the US and the EU,” added the former ambassador.
According to the Chinese media, Xi supports the EU's efforts for a political settlement of the Ukraine crisis. The media said that the country favours a balanced, effective, and sustainable European security framework, which serves the interests of the EU.
China had released a 12-point document for a settlement of the Ukraine crisis in February, but it has not found many takers yet. “Any peace plan which would in effect consolidate Russian annexations is simply not a viable plan,” von der Leyen had said.
During the visit of the French President the two sides also formalised the purchase of 160 Airbus aircraft for 36 billion Euros. Xi and Macron visited the Chinese city of Guangzhou on Friday, where they held more talks and had a private dinner.
The talks between the two sides come when the US is trying to convince partners not to sell sophisticated technology, particularly semiconductor equipment for making microchips, to China. A comprehensive economic and trade partnership agreement between China and the EU has also been shelved for the past few years because of Beijing’s poor human rights track record.
China hopes that European countries will be able to break away from the US’ influence, and build independent relations with China to safeguard their own economic development and interests.
It remains to be seen whether China can really drive a wedge between the US and the Europeans, especially when a war is raging in Ukraine.
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