China's President Xi Jinping and French President Emmanuel Macron

Less than 10 years ago, China’s president Xi Jinping was in Britain on a state visit to mark the start of a “golden friendship” between the two nations. He even joined David Cameron, then prime minister, for a pint in a Buckinghamshire pub to seal the deal. It was to prove the high point of an intergovernmental relationship that has declined markedly ever since.

Now China is seen almost as a hostile state after launching a global campaign of cyberattacks on the West’s political systems and blacklisting parliamentarians. Sanctions have recently been imposed in response, but have been denounced as ineffective and feeble. The Americans are challenging China directly with trade constraints and have even threatened to cut off TikTok unless the Chinese company that owns it sells up.

But far from being a pariah, President Xi knows how to play countries against each other. He is in Paris for talks with Emmanuel Macron and the EU president Ursula von der Leyen. The French leader said he would be robust in his dealings with his Chinese counterpart, calling for a more balanced trading relationship.

But to President Xi, the fact he is back in Europe for the first time in five years, and the optics that will provide back in China, is what matters. The chances that he will give anything away are minuscule. China has been buying up the world’s gold, is beginning to dominate the electric car market – unfairly says the EU – and is supporting Russia in a war in Europe.

Mr Macron doubtless believes that keeping open lines of communication with Beijing is important and has laid on the best the French pomp and circumstance for their guest. But as Mr (now Lord) Cameron discovered in 2015, Mr Xi’s idea of a friendly relationship is entirely self-serving.

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Xi Jinping calls for global 'cessation of war' during Paris Olympics

China's President Xi Jinping has said his country is willing to work with France towards a global "cessation of war" during the upcoming Paris Olympics.

At a press conference in Paris, Xi said China has been playing an "active role in achieving peace" in the war in Ukraine.

"The world today is not very peaceful. As a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council and a responsible major country, China is willing to work with France to take the Paris Olympics as an opportunity to advocate a global ceasefire and cessation of war during the Games," Xi said.

Those comments echoed similar remarks from his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron, who called for "an Olympic truce for all theatres of war."

Trade disputes

Trade issues were at the top of the agenda at the talks between the two leaders, as Macron denounced China's trade practices as shoring up protections and subsidies.

A strong advocate of Europe's economic sovereignty, he raised French concerns about a Chinese anti-dumping investigation into cognac and other European brandy, as well as tensions over French cosmetics and other sectors.

On Monday, he welcomed Xi's "openness" about potential provisional measures against French cognac and China's commitment "to refrain from selling any arms or aid to Moscow and to strictly control the export of dual-use goods."

China claims neutrality in the Ukraine conflict, but Xi and Russian President Vladimir Putin declared their governments had a "no limits friendship" before Moscow's invasion of the country.

US intelligence officials have also said China has supplied Russia with components and other materials needed to sustain the defence industry.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who was also in Paris, issued a stark warning to Xi that the EU executive will leave no stone unturned in its bid to stop Beijing's heavily subsidised manufacturing sector and unfair trade practices from suffocating Europe's homegrown industries.

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It is the clearest sign to date that the bloc is preparing for a potential trade war with Beijing.

"For trade to be fair, access to each other's markets also needs to be reciprocal," von der Leyen told reporters.

Xi Says China Will ‘Never Forget’ the US Bombing of Its Embassy......

This comment by Xi means China all out war with America and any European country supporting America. Visible and invisible war against America.

 President Xi Jinping vowed to “never forget” NATO’s deadly bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade, hours before arriving in Serbia on a swing through Europe aimed at dividing Brussels’ support for the US.

“Twenty-five years ago today, NATO flagrantly bombed the Chinese embassy in Yugoslavia, killing three Chinese journalist,” Xi said, in a Tuesday article published in Politika, Serbia’s oldest daily newspaper. “That we should never forget,” he added. “We will never allow such tragic history to repeat itself.”

During the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia in 1999, US missiles killed three Chinese journalists in a strike the White House later called a mistake and blamed on faulty maps. That event sparked widespread anti-US protests across China and cemented Beijing’s mistrust of US-led groups such as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

Xi’s visit to Serbia exactly a quarter of a century after the bombing is part of three-leg tour that includes stops in France and Hungary. The Chinese leader is trying to convince European nations that his nation’s huge economy is too large to turn away from, as Brussels unleashes a salvo of trade probes and aligns with Washington on concerns over China’s over capacity and national security risks.

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Adding to the political theater, Xi will be in Europe on the same day Russian President Vladimir Putin is inaugurated into his fifth term, as concern grows in Western Europe over his war in Ukraine.

Xi’s NATO criticism helps explain his government’s rationale for supporting the Kremlin in the wake of its invasion. Chinese officials have referred to the Belgrade bombing multiple times in recent years, as Beijing signaled solidarity with Russia’s position that NATO aggression on its borders necessitated the war.

The US and European leaders have urged Xi to use his relationship with Putin to bring an end to what German Chancellor Olaf Scholz recently branded an “insane” war during a trip to Beijing.

Xi told his French counterpart in Paris on Monday that he opposes the war in Ukraine “being used to place responsibility on a third country, tarnish its image and incite a new Cold War.” President Emmanuel Macron reiterated there cannot be security in Europe without security in Ukraine.

Ties between China and Serbia, which is not an EU member, have strengthened under Xi, even as Beijing’s broader relationship with Europe frays over human-rights issues and trade spats.

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In the Politika article, Xi wrote that the friendship between Beijing and Belgrade was “forged with the blood of our compatriots,” but would only “grow tall and sturdy.”