French President Macron arrives in Beijing for visit

Emmanuel Macron has arrived in China for a three-day state visit in which he hopes to dissuade Xi Jinping from supporting Russia’s invasion of Ukraine while also developing European trade ties with Beijing, Report informs via the Guardian.

“China is the only country in the world capable of having an immediate and radical impact on the conflict, in one direction or the other,” an official from the French president’s office said of the war in Ukraine.

The French president’s visit, his first to China since the Covid pandemic, will include more than six hours of time with Xi, between meetings and banquets. A French official said human rights issues would be raised, including the treatment of Uyghurs and other minorities.

Macron will be joined for part of the visit by the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, who has struck a firm tone on China over the Ukraine war. Von der Leyen said last week that “far from being put off by the atrocious and illegal invasion of Ukraine, President Xi is maintaining his ‘no-limits friendship’ with Putin’s Russia”.