France’s top diplomat in China for talks on Ukraine, trade

Top French diplomat Jean-Noel Barrot will meet Chinese counterpart Wang Yi and other officials on Thursday for talks on touchy topics like the war in Ukraine and Beijing’s trade tensions with Europe.

China has said it hopes this week’s visit by the French foreign minister will see the countries deepen cooperation in a world facing “turbulence and transformation”.

It has also said the two sides will discuss ways to “jointly resist unilateralism and the resurgence of the law of the jungle” — a veiled reference to US President Donald Trump, whose return to the White House in January has rocked the international order.

Paris expects the talks will focus on a resolution to that conflict, which Beijing has never condemned, as well as the Middle East and trade tensions between China and the European Union.

Barrot kicked off the day with a visit to the Beijing Language and Culture University, where he addressed students, touting the benefits of learning French and strong ties between the two countries.

“More than ever, the current context requires a powerful Franco-Chinese partnership in the service of geopolitical stability, prosperity and the future of our planet,” he told the students.

He is expected to meet top Chinese diplomat Wang at Beijing’s ornate Diaoyutai guesthouse and hold a press conference.

In the afternoon, he will hold a meeting with an as-yet-unnamed senior official.

Barrot will then head to economic powerhouse Shanghai, where he will on Friday inaugurate a hydrogen production plant built by the Air Liquide group and participate in a Franco-Chinese business forum.

Beijing has said it will use the visit “to consolidate political mutual trust”.

France and China have sought to strengthen ties in recent years, but Paris has also pressed Beijing on its ties with Moscow, which have strengthened since the invasion of Ukraine.

China says it is a neutral party in the Ukraine conflict.

But China is a close political and economic ally of Russia, and NATO members have branded Beijing a “decisive enabler” of the war, which it has never condemned.

Barrot’s visit to China comes as part of a wider tour of Asia, including stops in Indonesia and Singapore.

In the Southeast Asian city state on Wednesday, he warned the threat of Russian aggression in Europe was “not theoretical”.

“Its aggressivity over the past three years has extended way beyond Ukraine itself,” Barrot told journalists.