On Thursday, French President Emmanuel Macron and the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, will visit Beijing to discuss a range of issues. Both leaders will be pushing Chinese President Xi Jinping to take further steps to end the Ukraine war and address the strained trade relationship between China and the European Union.
The leaders are expected to work together, representing two “fairly different strands of European thinking on China”. Macron will play the role of the good cop, while von der Leyen is the “bad cop from Brussels” and will be urging a more assertive approach.
Macron will bring a large delegation of business leaders, highlighting the importance of France’s economic relationship with China. Meanwhile, von der Leyen will be advocating for “de-risking”, a more moderate version of the US’s decoupling strategy. This would involve Europe diversifying its trade sources and protecting its technology while talking tougher in diplomacy.
The trip is also an attempt to show unity among European leaders and put an end to Chinese hopes of exploiting differences within Europe. However, the EU has yet to come up with a clear consensus on how to handle China. Some member states are more keen to preserve trade ties, while others want to take a sterner stance. China may try to use its relationship with Russia as leverage over Europe, but Europe needs to draw its red line and make clear the consequences of China overstepping it.
China may not be keen on von der Leyen’s concept of “de-risking”, but it may have no choice but to accept it. However, China’s biggest concern will be the Ukraine war, which continues to strain the relationship between China and the EU.
The growing unity among Western allies represents a “serious development in foreign relations” for China, leaving it with very little room to take an unyielding position. China may need to be more cooperative in working out trade issues with Europe.
