Borrell expands European efforts to distance Beijing from Moscow in China

European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell will visit China this week, adding to the number of visits by European leaders who believe they can influence Moscow in the war in Ukraine.

Borrell’s visit, from 13 to 15 April, comes just days after French President Emmanuel Macron and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen visited the Asian nation. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez also visited China two weeks ago. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz was in Beijing last November. He was followed by Charles Michel, President of the European Council.

European leaders have repeatedly urged Beijing to use its influence with Russia to end the war in Ukraine. “If there is only one country that can force Moscow to change its calculations, it is China,” admitted an official in Macron’s office ahead of the French leader’s visit.

However, Beijing’s position on the conflict remains unchanged. China said it was neutral but maintained “unrestricted” relations with Russia and declined to criticize the invasion. The country has previously criticized the imposition of sanctions against Moscow and openly blamed NATO expansion for the war.

In a document proposed last February to end the conflict, Beijing stressed the importance of “respecting the sovereignty of all countries” in relation to Ukraine, but also called for an end to “Cold War mentality,” a term often used by China to criticize US foreign policy.

“None of the European leaders has been able to dispel the fog of ambiguity about the true intentions of [presidente chinês] Xi Jinping in Ukraine,” recalled Sylvie Kaufman, columnist for Le Monde, after Macron’s visit.

Borrell arrives in Beijing confident that the partnership between Beijing and Moscow has limits, despite official rhetoric to the contrary. He recently stressed that China, as a permanent member of the UN Security Council, must uphold the rules-based international order. According to him, Beijing has “moral obligations” and cannot take the side of the aggressor.

“We have been clear with China: its stance on atrocities and war crimes will determine the quality of our relationship with Beijing,” the head of European diplomacy said.

Borrell’s visit also came after Emmanuel Macron said in China that Europe should distance itself from the growing tensions between Beijing and Washington caused by the Taiwan issue and create “strategic autonomy” at all levels, from defense energy.

He stressed that Europe must remain focused on its own goals. “It is in our interests to accelerate [uma crise] on the issue of Taiwan? No, he said. “The worst thing would be to think that we Europeans should become followers on this issue and adjust to the US agenda and the exaggerated reaction of the Chinese side,” he said.

Macron’s statements have been criticized by members of the US Congress and parliamentarians from the countries of Eastern and Central Europe, while Washington reaffirms its commitment to protecting Ukraine.

Republican Senator Marco Rubio called Macron’s interview “disturbing” and suggested that Washington reconsider its support for Ukraine. “If Macron speaks for the whole of Europe and his position now is that they are not going to choose sides between the US and China on the Taiwan issue, then perhaps we should not take sides … and [deixá-los] deal only with Ukraine,” he said.

Analysts also believe that Macron’s statements signal Europe’s “disunity” towards China, as they contrast with the position expressed by Ursula von der Leyen in Beijing that changing the status quo by force in the Taiwan Strait would be “unacceptable.”

Thus, Josep Borrell will have to “correct some illusions”. [chinesas] on the position of the EU,” prompted by Macron’s statements, said Reinhard Bütikofer, head of the Chinese delegation to the European Parliament. “He should directly insist that the EU oppose any unilateral change in the Taiwan Strait,” he defended.