French President Emmanuel Macron arrives in China, to discuss Ukraine war with Xi Jinping

French President Emmanuel Macron has arrived in Beijing as part of his state visit to China from April 5 to 7 and has also addressed the French community in Beijing, as per the official Twitter account, Élysée. Macron's visit to China is aimed at mustering all his diplomatic adeptness and political acumen. In this three-day visit to China, Macron might warn Beijing against sending weapons to Russia. Further, he would ask Bejing to use its influence to support peace efforts in the Russia-Ukraine war. Taking to Twitter, Élysée wrote: "Speech by the President@EmmanuelMacron to the French community in China."  

EN DIRECT | Discours du Président @EmmanuelMacron à la communauté française en Chine. https://t.co/1ANLTyhj5p

— Élysée (@Elysee)

The visit by the French president to China comes amid ongoing Russia-Ukraine war. However, Bejing claims to hold a neutral stance in the war, but has also stressed its “no-limits friendship” with Russia. Last month, China’s President Xi Jinping met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow. Notably, China has not condemned Russia for its actions in Ukraine. 

Macron touched down in China: what to expect? 

According to one of the French officials, Paris isn’t expecting to see a major shift in the Russia-Ukraine war position. Even then during the French president's visit, Paris has been expected to propose initiatives for helping ordinary Ukrainians and for possible avenues toward reaching a halfway solution to the war, said the official. It is to be noted that, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has also arrived in Beijing on Wednesday, as per the local media reports. Further, before visiting China, Macron had a telephone call ahead of the French leader's trip to engage China to hasten the end of the war in Ukraine, as per Elysee Palace's statement on Wednesday. "The two leaders have mentioned their joint willingness to engage China to accelerate the end of the war in Ukraine and take part in building sustainable peace in the region," Macron's office said in a statement. Since China lifted its zero-Covid restrictions in December 2022, there have been several diplomatic visits including, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, European Council President Charles Michel, and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez. Now, Macron and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen are in China.