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Exploring Europe’s diplomatic and commercial relationship with China.
By STUART LAU
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SMILEY XI IN BALI: Is it the sun? Or is it pure joy in traveling outside China again? In highly choreographed meetings at luxury hotels in Bali, President Xi Jinping was beaming this week, most notably with U.S. President Joe Biden. Xi is keen to rebuild an image shattered in part by his initial “no-limits” partnership with Russia’s Vladimir Putin. With intense international skepticism since February about China’s position, the freshly anointed Chinese supreme leader with unlimited tenure wants to rebuild trust with the West — especially Europe. Or more specifically, particular key economies in the European Union.
AVOIDING A TECH WAR: One of Xi’s top priorities is to prevent a developing tech war initiated by the U.S. In his meeting with Biden, Xi interestingly linked his plea for a trade truce with a warning of China’s escalating nationalism. “The Chinese nation has the proud tradition of standing up for itself. Suppression and containment will only strengthen the will and boost the morale of the Chinese people. Starting a trade war or a technology war, building walls and barriers, and pushing for decoupling and severing supply chains run counter to the principles of market economy and undermine international trade rules. Such attempts serve no-one’s interests,” he said.
All went according to script, and then…
— A MISSILE HIT POLAND: In the early morning on Wednesday local time, G20 leaders were woken up by their staff updating them about a scenario they’d been dreading about for months: A NATO country, Poland in this case, was hit by a missile along the Ukrainian border. Ukrainian officials initially said it was a Russian weapon, and Biden chaired an emergency meeting with the fellow European, Canadian and Japanese leaders to discuss the situation. He then told reporters it was “unlikely” the missile was fired from Russia, judging from its trajectory. NATO later clarified the missile was likely from Ukraine’s own air-defense system, cooling fears of an immediate escalation.
Over the morning on Wednesday, China Direct heard from a diplomat that Chinese interlocutors were asking around for information on the details, while in the meantime U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak had to cancel a meeting with Xi to handle the potential crisis.
— JUSTIN IN TROUBLE: Xi was also seen lecturing Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for leaking their conversation to the media. All the smiles he showed to others, well, soon evaporated in this widely circulated wolf warrior-style video. More on the bust up below.
— LAVROV’S HEART: Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who took President Putin’s place to lead the Russian delegation, was briefly sent to hospital for heart concerns, according to AP. He denied the report, with a video of him sitting outside his hotel room in T-shirt and shorts.
WELCOME TO CHINA DIRECT! This is Stuart Lau, Europe-China Correspondent at POLITICO. We’re live in Bali for you this week. (And stop asking whether I’ve had any chance to escape my editors and enjoy the beach. It’s pure cruelty.)
MACRON SEES A SINCERE, PEACEFUL MAN: In a press conference, Macron hailed Xi as a “sincere” figure who should “play the role of a mediator over the next few months” in stopping further Russian aggression against Ukraine — even though Beijing has shown no sign of being a good fit for such a role since the war broke out in February.
I trust Xi: Ignoring China’s deadly Himalayan tensions with India, escalating tension with Taiwan or military adventurism in the South China Sea, Macron declared: “China calls for peace … [There is] a deep and I know sincere attachment to … the U.N. charter.”
Massaging his ego: The Chinese embassy to Paris promoted a video by TikTok’s domestic Chinese equivalent Douyin, in which Macron passed his best wishes to China after Xi secured a norm-breaking new mandate. (Xi was appointed for a third term as Communist Party general secretary in a highly choreographed party congress.)
SPAIN WANTS TOURISTS: With the Chinese lockdown measures still in place, Spain is eager to get some tourists back from what was once the major source of travelers. With PM Pedro Sánchez, Xi played up the importance of China as a motor for tourism in Spain: “The two sides need to make good preparations for the China-Spain Year of Culture and Tourism to build greater popular support for China-Spain friendship.”
Let’s trade: Spain’s statement — which stressed Sánchez’s “desire to further boost cooperation between the EU and China in trade and investment matters” — made no mention of human rights.
BIGGER PROBLEM WITH THE DUTCH: The Netherlands is under intense pressure from the U.S. to cut microchip ties with China, which Washington sees as an increasingly aggressive player in the field of semiconductors. The Netherlands, home to chipmaker ASML, a company that makes key equipment for microchip making, should not join any EU-U.S. trade coalition seeking to box China out of new technologies.
I need your gadget to make chips, Mark: Xi didn’t need to specify which sector he was referring to when he spoke to Dutch PM Mark Rutte. According to the Chinese foreign ministry: “Xi underscored that the world is a community where all countries need to cooperate with rather than ‘decouple’ from one another. The attempt to politicize economic and trade issues must be rejected, and stability of global industrial and supply chains should be maintained.”
MELONI PLEASES BOTH BIDEN AND XI: It’s Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s Asia debut, and she raised some eyebrows by both discussing China strategy with Biden and accepting Xi’s invitation — for her whole cabinet — to visit Beijing. “Meloni expressed the Italian government’s interest in promoting mutual economic interests, also with a view to increasing Italian exports to China,” the Italian government said in a statement. “EU-China relations were also touched upon … Meloni stressed the importance of resuming all channels of dialogue, including on human rights.”
EU MEMBERS, BUT NOT EU: A plan for European Council President Charles Michel to meet Xi in Bali was canceled. This comes after Beijing’s earlier decision to shelve a prerecorded speech for Michel to address a Shanghai trade expo. That speech — in which he condemned Russia’s war of aggression — was deemed too sensitive for Chinese ears.
RISHI CANCELS MEETING: The British PM had been due to hold a surprise meeting with Xi but those plans were scuppered. While the U.K. said that was due to emergency talks about the missile strike in Poland, the Chinese foreign ministry said Britain should “meet China half way” as Beijing intended to keep the relationship healthy.
Door not wide open: As soon as the Sunak-Xi meeting got canceled, the U.K. instructed Chinese-owned technology company Nexperia to sell at least 86 percent of the Newport Wafer Fab factory it acquired last year, citing national security grounds. Full writeup here from POLITICO’s Cristina Gallardo.
MAKE NO MISTAKE: Despite the long list of European leaders he’d met, the only man who matters to Xi in the summit was Biden.
DEESCALATION IS THE THEME: “I absolutely believe there need not be a new Cold War,” said Biden. “We’re going to compete vigorously but we’re not looking for conflict. We’re going to manage this competition responsibly.” Biden said there was “little substitute to face-to-face” contact with Xi as the two men shook hands earlier Monday against a backdrop of flags. Biden said the two men had “blunt” disagreements but pledged to continue talking.
Few concrete accomplishments were achieved but just meeting at all was seen as an important step toward deescalation, my U.S. colleague Phelim Kine writes in to report.
China calls for stability: “The world has come to a crossroads [and] we need to chart the right course,” said Xi, whose words were translated into English. “The world expects that China and the United States will properly handle the relationship.”
DRAWING RED LINES: Taiwan was to be a centerpiece of the conversation. Multiple times in his presidency, Biden has said the U.S. would defend the self-governing island — Beijing has long sought for eventual unification — in case of a Chinese invasion. But each time, administration officials have stressed the U.S. posture of “strategic ambiguity” toward Taiwan had not changed.
After the meeting, both sides released statements making clear that the issue remained a flashpoint. The White House said the president “raised objections” to China’s “coercive and increasingly aggressive actions toward Taiwan, which undermine peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and in the broader region, and jeopardize global prosperity.”
NOT EVERYONE LEFT XI IN BALI HAPPILY: Just ask Trudeau.
In a highly unusual video showing an agitated Xi lecturing a Western leader, Trudeau was criticized for leaking earlier conversations with Xi to the Canadian press. Here’s a stern conversation published by Canadian broadcasters:
— Xi: “Everything we discussed has been leaked to the paper. That’s not appropriate. And that’s not the way the conversation was conducted. If there is sincerity on your part, we would conduct good communications with a mutually respectful manner,” he said. Before the interpreter started translating, Xi continued emphatically: “Otherwise the results would be hard to tell.”
— Trudeau (before the interpreter finished): “In Canada, we believe in a free and open and frank dialogue. We will continue to have…We will continue to work constructively together but there will be things that we will disagree on.”
— Xi, looking impatient and waving his hands: “Create the conditions. Create the conditions. Alright,” before he shook Trudeau’s hand and walked away.
According to Canadian media: Xi was apparently displeased about the Canadian press reporting Trudeau’s complaint to him about Chinese interference in Canadian elections. If you’re Canadians living in China, watch out.
MANY THANKS: To my editor Christian Oliver, producer Grace Stranger, and reporters Clea Caulcutt, Eleni Courea and Cristina Gallardo.
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