Enduring partnership of China and France
During his phone talks with Emmanuel Bonne, diplomatic advisor to French President Emmanuel Macron, Wang Yi, director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, urged the French side to “step up to implement” the consensuses the two countries’ leaders have reached.
Praising President Macron’s recent statements on European autonomy, and expressing appreciation that an increasing number of European countries are “more actively” coming into dialogue and contact with China, Wang highlighted a shared interest in a multipolar world.
As two major forces in the process toward that goal, Wang said, China and Europe should think of each other more as cooperative partners, less as rivals. He also appealed for “concrete actions” by developed countries to support the development of the Global South, of which he said China is a member.
As a firm believer of “heads of state diplomacy”, Beijing has demonstrated an unwavering dedication to reaching strategic-level agreements with leaders of foreign countries, and retained confidence in them. Amid the ongoing changes in the global geopolitical landscape, however, translating strategic-level consensuses into real-world policy moves seems to be a challenging task, particularly against the backdrop of contagious China-bashing in the West.
When it comes to relations with the United States, for instance, Beijing has found it frustrating that Washington has constantly eaten its words on stabilizing the volatile bilateral ties. Each time Chinese and US officials have met to compare notes on the matter, Chinese officials have made the request that the two sides work together to “implement the consensuses the two heads of state reached during their meeting in Bali, Indonesia” on properly managing bilateral relations.
The frequent legislative moves against China by the US Congress and the increasing animosity the US government has demonstrated are in Beijing’s eyes clear evidence of US insincerity. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokespeople have constantly accused the US side of “talking the talk, not walking the walk”.
Institutional constraints aside, implementing what the Chinese and French leaders agreed may face less obstacles considering the long tradition of pragmatic cooperation both France and the broader Europe have with China. As Wang told Bonne, China and Europe share more common interests. And those interests are not limited to the economy and trade. The two sides have similar visions of a fairer, more just world order.
Although the EU has followed the US to identify China as a “systemic rival” in its strategy paper, European countries are keenly aware what fine relations with China mean to them. Instead of being a threat in other people’s words, China is more about opportunities to them.
It is hoped that the French side will continue pursuing a rational and positive policy toward China, and play a constructive role in the healthy and stable development of China-EU relations.
Editorial, China Daily
