Beijing wants to meet EU leaders as ties with US fray
China and the European Union (EU) should prepare for a meeting of their leaders, Beijing’s top foreign policy official said, a sign of the Asian nation’s efforts to court Europe amid worsening ties with the US.
China and the EU should “bring bilateral exchanges back to pre-epidemic levels as soon as possible”, Wang Yi told EU counterpart Josep Borrell on Saturday (Feb 18) at the Munich Security Conference.
“Both sides should maintain openness and cooperation, resist decoupling, and work together to maintain the stability of the global production and supply chains,” Wang said in the statement released by the Foreign Ministry in Beijing on Sunday.
China has been lobbying nations to cooperate on technology as the US reached an agreement with the Netherlands and Japan last month to restrict exports of some advanced chipmaking machinery to China, partly to curtail military advances.
China’s push could take on added urgency amid tensions with the US. Wang told US Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the same conference that Washington should change how it has been handling the balloon episode, according to the official Xinhua News Agency.
Blinken said the craft’s entry into US airspace was an “irresponsible act that must never again occur”, and warned China against helping Russia evade sanctions linked to the invasion of Ukraine, State Department spokesman Ned Price said in a statement.
Chinese President Xi Jinpeng held talks with Charles Michel, president of the European Council, and Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, via video link in April 2022.
Late last year, Xi met Michel in Beijing, where the Chinese leader called for efforts to resolve the war in Ukraine. Wang and Borrell also discussed Ukraine in their meeting on Saturday, with Wang saying that China “insists on promoting peace and talks, and is willing to strengthen communication with the EU and persevere in finding a political solution”.
Wang also met Dutch Foreign Minister Wopke Hoekstra in Munich, the official Xinhua News Agency reported. The Chinese diplomat said he hoped the Netherlands would “play a positive role in ensuring the stability of the global industrial and supply chains and promoting global economic recovery”. BLOOMBERG
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