French President Emmanuel Macron was greeted by a huge crowd at a university in southern China on Friday as he drew to the end of a three-day visit during which he repeatedly pushed his counterpart Xi Jinping to help end the conflict in Ukraine.
Macron, who landed in the capital Beijing on Wednesday, said he was seeking to dissuade China from supporting Russia’s invasion of its neighbour.
This morning he flew into the southern city of Guangzhou, where he was mobbed by hundreds of students desperately screaming for a selfie or closing ceremony with the French leader — in stark contrast to the hundreds of thousands of protesters who want him removed from the homeland. Amid riots over pension reforms.
Macron, whose name was chanted by some in the crowd, then spoke to students in the campus gymnasium and answered their questions before an early dinner with Xi before meetings with Chinese investors and a flight home.
China’s show of support was a stark contrast to events at home in France, where angry protesters set fire to one of the French president’s favorite restaurants amid continuing anger over his hated pension reforms.
La Rotonde Hotel – where he celebrated his election victory in 2017 – was targeted with Molotov cocktails. The venue’s elegant outdoor awning was in shambles last night and some of its windows were blown out, with police making 20 arrests in the surrounding area.
It comes after the French leader met his Chinese counterpart for talks in Beijing on Thursday, ultimately failing to encourage Xi to change his stance on his ally Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine.
French President Emmanuel Macron arrives for a visit to Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou on April 7, 2023
Students swarmed the French president as he strolled through the gardens outside University Hall
Chinese students wait for the arrival of French President Emmanuel Macron at Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou on April 7, 2023.
PARIS: Meanwhile, angry protesters in Paris set fire to one of Macron’s favorite restaurants amid continuing anger over his pension reforms.
At a news conference following the talks, Macron delivered a lengthy speech that overshadowed the Chinese leader’s truncated remarks — a political ‘misstep’ that seemed to unnerve Xi who was seen sighing and shifting his weight uncomfortably as his French counterpart walked his way.
Putin’s conquest of his neighbor dominated Macron’s visit to China – his first since 2019.
He told students in Guangzhou that the war was a “clear violation of our international law”.
Macron said that Russia is “a country that has decided to colonize its neighbor and not respect the rules.”
He said that “the international order is weak now and we have a responsibility, China and France, to preserve it and at the same time reinvent it in light of the realities of the twenty-first century.”
Macron also urged them to adopt a ‘critical spirit’ that would allow them to become ‘free and rational individuals’ – another stark contrast to the rigid, state-controlled education to which Chinese students are subject.
“I can count on you to bring Russia back to its senses and everyone to the negotiating table,” Macron said in his talks with Xi on Thursday.
A French diplomat told AFP that the Chinese president had expressed his willingness to speak with Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky, but only when the time was right.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who is accompanying Macron on his visit, welcomed Xi’s openness to speaking with Zelensky.
In contrast to the friendly Macron, von der Leyen struck a more assertive tone in her talks with Chinese officials this week.
On Thursday, she said she shared with officials her “deep concerns about the deteriorating human rights situation in China,” and warned Beijing that arms shipments to Russia would greatly damage relations.
French President Emmanuel Macron (L) meets and talks with Chinese students during his visit to Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou on April 7, 2023.
Chinese President Xi Jinping, right, and French President Emmanuel Macron speak before a tea ceremony at the residence of the governor of Guangdong Province in Guangzhou, China, Friday, April 7.
Macron and Xi drink tea at the home of the governor of Guangdong Province in Guangzhou
Macron gestures as he speaks to students at Sun Yat-sen University
President Xi Jinping (right) shakes hands with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron after the signing ceremony in Beijing on April 6, 2023
President Xi Jinping holds a trilateral meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
However, Moscow has poured cold water on prospects for Beijing’s mediation, insisting on Thursday that it had “no choice” but to press ahead with its assault on Ukraine.
“There is no doubt that China has a very effective and capable mediation capacity,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
“But the situation with Ukraine is complicated, and so far there are no prospects for a political settlement,” he added.
Besides the war in Ukraine, Macron’s visit also focused on solidifying an important business partnership.
The French leader is accompanied in China by more than 50 senior French businessmen, including senior managers of Airbus, EDF and Veolia.
Airbus announced Thursday that it will open a second final assembly line in China that will double its production capacity in the country, with the framework signed off by CEO Guillaume Faury in Beijing.
Asia has become a key market for both Airbus and its US rival Boeing, where demand for air travel is rising as the middle class expands.
