Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in France for a May 6-7 state visit. At the heart of this visit are the wars in Ukraine and Palestine, as well as trade disputes between China and the EU.
But the question on everyone’s mind is “What can we expect from this visit?” Will Emmanuel Macron be sensitive to President Xi Jinping’s proposals, given that he has just renewed his threat, in The Economist, to deploy ground troops in Ukraine, setting the stage for a new world war? Given also that he is attempting to play a bigger role in Europe by aligning himself with the most Russophobic states, Poland and the Baltic States, and trying to play “first in the class” in NATO?
On the contrary, the Chinese approach would enable Emmanuel Macron to restore France’s role as a balancing power: a France independent of blocs, acting as a mediator for peace and development, against the empires and oligarchies.
This is where the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations between France and China on January 27, 1964, which we are celebrating this year, takes on its full significance as a source of historic inspiration for Chinese and French political leaders. Sixty years ago, our two independent and inclusive nations decided to join hands to fight for peace and development when humanity was being endangered by the emergence of enemy blocs and imperial ideologies.
