No ‘Third Way’ for EU, Experts Warn, as Macron Meets Xi in Beijing

Read More

French President Emmanuel Macron is visiting Beijing in a bid to improve economic cooperation with the Chinese communist regime—and to ask for China’s help in de-escalating the Russia-Ukraine war.

Observers have pointed out that Macron’s pursuit of cooperation with the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is somewhat idealistic. Macron has consistently attempted to take the “third way”—which tends to differ from the path of the United States. In the context of the increasingly acrimonious US-China relationship, however, the feasibility of this practice is continuing to decline.

The press release issued by the Xinhua News Agency—the CCP’s official mouthpiece—on the meeting between Macron and CCP leader Xi Jinping was comparatively short, at a little over 300 words. It quoted Xi as saying that “the international situation is complicated,” that China and France enjoy “high-quality strategic communication,” and that the two countries are both promoters of “the democratization of international relations.”

French President Emmanuel Macron gives a speech as he meets members of the French community in Beijing, China on April 5, 2023. (Thibault Camus/AP Photo)

According to international media, Macron said to Xi during their meeting: “I know I can count on you to bring Russia back to its senses and everyone back to the negotiating table.”

However, Russia immediately ruled out the possibility of the CCP mediating to stop the war in Ukraine. Asked about Macron’s remarks, Russian Presidential Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov said: “Of course, China has a very effective and impressive potential for mediation. But in the case of Ukraine, the situation is still complicated, it does not yet show any prospects for a peaceful settlement.”

Sun Guoxiang, associate professor at the Department of International Affairs and Entrepreneurship at Nanhua University in Taiwan, told The Epoch Times on April 6 that “some politicians in the European Union countries are indeed idealistic and hope that the CCP can become a responsible stakeholder, playing a so-called mediating role.”

Feng Chongyi, a professor at the University of Technology Sydney and an expert on China issues, told The Epoch Times on April 6 that Xi Jinping and Putin will not listen to Macron, but that “they will act according to the political logic of the dictators they are.”

EU President Ursula von der Leyen flew to Beijing with Macron. Following the meeting between Xi and Macron, von der Leyen joined in the dialogue, which focused on the de-escalation of the Russian-Ukraine war.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is pictured at a news conference after a virtual summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Brussels, Belgium, on Sept. 14, 2020. (Yves Herman/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)

In a speech last week, von der Leyen warned Beijing against directly supporting Russia in the Ukraine war, while at the same time ruling out the possibility of a “decoupling” of the EU from China.

Sun Guoxiang told The Epoch Times that the EU’s and Macron’s attempt to forge a “third way” will be incredibly difficult, “because the geopolitical competition between the United States and China is increasing by the day, and it’s getting harder for Europe to play the role of an independent player.”

Feng said that France is playing the leading role for NATO in Europe, and therefore has always attempted to counterbalance the influence of the United States. In 2018, Macron even suggested that European NATO forces could not rely on the United States for security. “Macron has always wanted to maintain a certain distance from the United States, and to highlight France’s status. So he is going to Beijing to continue in the same vein,” Feng said.

Sun believes that the current situation is unlike the Cold-War period, in which global markets could be separated almost completely. He said that Macron’s trip is also meant to engage in deeper economic exchanges with China. “However, the CCP also uses the economy and the market to divide Europe from the United States, and to divide the relationship between the old EU member states and the new EU member states in Europe, through economic enticement, such as building infrastructure, etc.

“So the CCP’s strategy is very clear, and it will continue to divide other international institutions,” he said.

“Because of China’s divide-and-conquer strategy, the EU needs to show even more that it has a unified voice to deal with China’s actions.”

Ning Haizhong and Luo Ya contributed to this report.