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China dominates discussions in Brussels among the Twenty-Seven

Although the agenda of the Heads of State and Government of the European Union (EU) was extensive during the summit on Thursday 23 and Friday 24 March, one subject kept coming up in the mouths of the participants, while was not supposed to be addressed officially: China. “It was in the background of almost all the discussions: Ukraine, industry, energy, trade”, notes a European source. Even Antonio Guterres, the Secretary General of the United Nations, mentioned the world’s second economic power to suggest to Europeans not to try to isolate it.

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That this subject has come to the fore is not really a surprise, just two days after Vladimir Putin welcomed Xi Jinping with great fanfare in Moscow. A meeting during which the question of the “position for a political settlement of the Ukrainian crisis” proposed by the Chinese president. And also a week after the agreement between Iran and Saudi Arabia on the restoration of their diplomatic relations, the conclusion of which was facilitated by Beijing.

Faced with China’s diplomatic activism, European leaders had reason to wonder. For the Latvian Prime Minister, Arturs Krisjanis Karins, the meeting between MM. Xi and Putin in Moscow should be “a way for Europe to open its eyes. Many thought that China would play the role of mediator [entre la Russie et l’Ukraine]. China has not done this, it is openly in favor of Russia. It is a great challenge and a great difficulty for Europe”. Several other heads of state shared this spite. “We have seen that China has an influence on Russia, we would have liked it to use it to raise the issue of respect for territorial integrity” of Ukraine, estimated Thursday evening the Belgian Prime Minister, Alexander De Croo, in front of the journalists.

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China-EU Summit

The long-term nature of the war in Ukraine, the rapprochement between Washington and the Old Continent, which was evident during Ursula von der Leyen’s visit to the United States on March 10, but also this proximity between Beijing and Moscow, or even the global race for green technologies require that the subject of China be put back on the table, according to the entourage of Charles Michel, the President of the European Council. “At some point, European leaders will have to look again at the subject of Chinasays a senior European official.

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