French President Emmanuel Macron yesterday urged Europe to take part in China’s “One Belt, One Road” infrastructure project, but warned against “hegemony,” saying both sides should share the benefits.
Macron also called on Europe and China to team up on curbing climate change in the face of the US’ decision to withdraw from the Paris accord.
“Our destinies are linked,” he said in a keynote speech on the future of Sino-French relations during a state visit to the Chinese city of Xian, the starting point of the ancient Silk Road.
Photo: Reuters
“The future needs France, Europe and China,” Macron said, adding that he plans to travel to China “at least once a year.”
Macron started his three-day visit in Xian as a gesture to Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) Belt and Road project, an initiative to connect Asia and Europe by road, rail and sea.
Macron said Europe should join the new silk road initiative, but added a warning.
“They cannot be the roads of a new hegemony that will put the countries that they traverse in a vassal state,” he said. “Multilateralism means balanced cooperation.”
“These roads are to be shared and they cannot be one-way,” he said, adding that the ancient Silk Roads were never purely Chinese.
Macron said he plans to seek a “strategic partnership” with Beijing on issues including terrorism.
In a French version of “panda diplomacy,” Macron brought Xi a gift: a retired Republican Guard horse.
On climate change, Macron said he would talk to Xi about “relaunching the climate battle” by preparing an increase in their engagements to combat global warming at the 24th session of the Conference of the Parties in Poland later this year.
He praised China, the world’s top polluter, for committing to the Paris accord after the US’ withdrawal.
“China kept its word,” he said. “You demonstrate your immense sense of responsibility.”
Cooperation will “show the world that the French and Chinese are capable of making our planet great and beautiful again,” he said in Chinese.
After Xian, Macron traveled to Beijing along with his delegation of about 60.
Macron and his wife, Brigitte, yesterday night met Xi and his wife, Peng Liyuan (彭麗媛), at the Diaoyutai State Guest House, where Xi praised France’s foresight in being the first major Western country to establish diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic of China.
Today, Macron is to visit the Forbidden City, meet top Chinese officials and oversee the signing of business deals.
Human Rights Watch has urged him to call publicly for human rights improvements in China during his meeting with Xi, but Macron’s office said the matter would be addressed privately.
Along with Brigitte, Macron visited the famous terracotta warriors in Xian, as well as the centuries-old Big Wild Goose Pagoda — a Buddhist site — and the city’s mosque.
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