France and Germany’s top diplomats sought to present a united front on China, saying their countries must reduce their reliance on the world’s second-biggest economy and calling on Beijing to pressure Russia to end its war in Ukraine.
(Bloomberg) — France and Germany’s top diplomats sought to present a united front on China, saying their countries must reduce their reliance on the world’s second-biggest economy and calling on Beijing to pressure Russia to end its war in Ukraine.
“We have a joint message: we are not seeking decoupling but rather to limit our dependencies when they are excessive,” French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna said Wednesday at a joint news conference with her German counterpart, Annalena Baerbock, after talks in Paris.
“We are talking about de-risking rather than decoupling.”
The ministers met as China’s foreign minister, Qin Gang, tours European capitals this week amid signs that even Beijing’s closer friends in the European Union are starting to favor more strategic distance.
Italy has signaled that it intends to pull out of a controversial investment pact as part of the massive Belt and Road Initiative.
Colonna is due to meet with Qin later on Wednesday after Baerbock — who also attended the weekly French cabinet meeting — hosted their Chinese counterpart in Berlin on Tuesday.
The latest talks follow a trip to China last month by Emmanuel Macron during which the French president said Xi Jinping could play a major role in ending the war in Ukraine.
“It’s necessary for China to use its relations with Russia to make it understand it’s in a dead-end and demand it to return to reason,” Colonna said.
“We’re also asking China to abstain from any weapon deliveries to Russia.”
The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, has proposed extending strict trade restrictions to several Chinese companies as it tries to crack down on firms supplying the Kremlin with banned goods and technologies that have aided its war machine in Ukraine.
Qin said after meeting with Baerbock in Berlin on Tuesday that China would react “strictly and strongly” to any penalties imposed on its companies by the EU.
The bloc’s foreign ministers are meeting in Stockholm later this week to update their position on China.
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