Reemphasizing his country’s neutrality in the Ukraine War after Washington accused Beijing of helping Moscow rebuild its defense industrial base, Chinese President Xi Jinping has begun his first trip to Europe in five years.
In an article under his own byline, published by the French daily Le Figaro, Xi says that China did not start the Ukraine crisis, nor is it a party to or a participant in it.
“China has been playing a constructive role in striving for peaceful settlement of the crisis,” Xi says. “China has delivered to Ukraine many shipments of humanitarian aid and sent its special representative many times to mediate among the countries concerned.”
“The longer the Ukraine crisis drags on, the greater harm it will do to Europe and the world,” he says. “China hopes that peace and stability will return to Europe at an early date. We stand ready to work with France and the whole international community to find a reasonable way out of the crisis.”
The Chinese top leader started his six-day visit to France, Serbia and Hungary on Sunday.
On Monday, Xi, French President Emmanuel Macron and EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen held a trilateral meeting in Paris.
Macron called coordination with Beijing on “major crises” including Ukraine “absolutely decisive.”
Macron and von der Leyen also urged “fair rules for all” in Europe-China trade, referring to China’s industrial overcapacity problem.
The meeting came after the US Treasury Department and Department of State on May 1 sanctioned about 300 entities, including 20 companies based in China and Hong Kong, and accused them of shipping electronic parts and dual-use products to Russia to sustain Moscow’s war machine in Ukraine.
The sanctioned Chinese firms include a Chengdu-based manufacturer of drone parts and a Hong Kong-based supplier of parts found in Russian missile systems and unmanned vehicles (UAVs).
Beijing criticized the US for undermining Chinese firms’ rights and stressed that normal trade between China and Russia should continue.
Prior to his meeting with Xi, Macron told The Economist on May 2 that he would not rule out the possibility of sending troops to Ukraine if Russia broke through Ukrainian front lines and Kyiv made such a request. He had mentioned this plan for the first time in February.
Stephen Bryen, a former US deputy undersecretary of defense, writes in an article published May 3 on his Substack blog Weapons and Strategy that France has already deployed troops in support of the Ukrainian 54th Independent Mechanized Brigade in Slavyansk.
He says in that article, which Asia Times republished on May 4, that the initial group of French troops numbers about 100 while the first tranche of French Foreign Legion soldiers that will arrive in Ukraine will be about 1,500.
In another article published on his Substack blog Monday in response to questions about the veracity of that report (which France has officially denied), Bryen defends his analysis while saying that sourcing the facts of such matters is difficult and involves relying to some extent on social media. “I could be wrong,” he says. “Frankly, I hope I am.”
Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday that the Russian Defense Ministry was checking to see whether Bryen’s information is correct.
Meanwhile, Avril Haines, Director of National Intelligence in the US, told the Senate Armed Services Committee on May 2 that China and Russia have begun closer military ties that could possibly threaten Taiwan.
According to Haines’s testimony, coordination between China and Russia across every sector of society, including politics, economics, military and technology is increasing. She said it’s possible that the two nations will start a “two-front war” against the West while the likelihood depends on the scenario.
Who’s persuading whom?
While Macron and von der Leyen urged China to stop supplying dual-use products to Russia, Xi asked them to “find a reasonable way” to end the war in Ukraine and stay independent when making decisions.
Some observers said Xi is persuading France not to support the European Union’s plan to curb Chinese new energy equipment suppliers. They said China wants France, a heavyweight in Europe, to call on Ukraine to compromise on a peace agreement with Russia.
In his article for Le Figaro, Xi cites a Confucian proverb: “A man of true moral integrity is one who is both friendly but independent, and who does not compromise his principles, and who is independent without any bias or taking sides. How unflinchingly firm he is in his strength!”
Xi also cites French writer Romain Rolland, who said that “it is so much easier to allow oneself to be guided than it is to think for oneself. This abdication is the kernel of the mischief.”
Last September, the EU initiated a 13-month investigation into whether government subsidies have helped Chinese EV makers win market share in Europe in recent years. In recent months, it launched more anti-subsidy probes against China’s solar panels, wind turbines and electric trains.
Some commentators said the EU’s pressure on China’s EV sector is unlikely to cause Beijing to give up close ties with Moscow.
“China’s economic interests in Europe are not in France but in Hungary, which has so far accommodated 400 Chinese firms that are hiring tens of thousands of local workers,” Tang Hsiang-Lung, a Taiwanese political commentator, says in his latest program on YouTube on Monday.
Tang points out that Contemporary Amperex Technology Co Ltd (CATL), a Chinese battery maker, has already built a large factory in Hungary while a lithium mine was discovered in the country last November. Lithium is a major raw material of EV batteries.
“It’s likely that China will end up asking its EV makers to focus more on original equipment manufacturer (OEM) businesses and partner with European brands in order to avoid extra tariffs,” he says. “It’s difficult for the EU to break up the China-Russia ties.”
He says China not only made a huge investment in the industrial and high-technology sectors in Hungary but also planned to build a talent pool there with the establishment of Fudan University’s first campus in Europe.
He says China’s investment in Hungary may not be enough to change the EU’s key political decisions but can at least help stop Sino-EU relations from worsening.
Xi will arrive in Serbia on Tuesday and may visit the former Chinese Embassy, which was bombed by the US in 1999. The remains were then rebuilt into a Chinese cultural center. He will visit Hungary between Wednesday and Friday.
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Follow Jeff Pao on X at @jeffpao3