French President Emmanuel Macron, his wife Brigitte Macron, Chinese President Xi Jinping, and his wife Peng Liyuan watch folklore dancers at the Tourmalet pass, in the Pyrenees moutains, as part of his two-day state visit to France, on May 7, 2024.
| Photo Credit: AFP

French President Emmanuel Macron was on Tuesday hosting Chinese leader Xi Jinping at one of his beloved childhood haunts in the Pyrenees mountains, pressing a message to Beijing not to support Russia’s war against Ukraine and to accept fairer trade.

The first day of Mr. Xi’s state visit to France, his first to Europe since 2019, saw respectful but sometimes robust exchanges between the two men during a succession of talks on Monday.

The peaceful mountain village of Bagnere-de-Bigorre and nearby La Mongie — as well as lunch accompanied by their wives, Peng Liyuan and Brigitte Macron — will allow Mr. Xi and Mr. Macron to explore these issues in relative privacy.

Mr. Macron personally welcomed Mr. Xi when he arrived at Tarbes airport in southwest France and the leaders headed to a mountain restaurant to dine on local lamb, cheeses and wines.

Europe is concerned that while officially neutral over the Ukraine conflict, Beijing is essentially backing Russia, which is using Chinese machine tools for weapons production.

After a bilateral meeting with Mr. Xi, Mr. Macron welcomed China’s “commitments” not to supply arms to Russia, while also expressing concern over possible deliveries of dual-use technology.

French President Emmanuel Macron and Chinese President Xi Jinping review the troops, on May 7, 2024 at the Tarbes airport, southwestern France.
| Photo Credit: AP

France’s President is hosting China’s Leader at a remote mountain pass in the Pyrenees on May 7 for private meetings after a high-stakes state visit in Paris dominated by trade disputes and Russia’s war in Ukraine.

French President Emmanuel Macron made a point of inviting Chinese President Xi Jinping to the Tourmalet Pass near the Spanish border, where Mr. Macron spent time as a child visiting his grandmother. It is meant to be a reciprocal gesture after Mr. Jinping took Mr. Macron last year to the residence of the governor of Guangdong province, where the Chinese president’s father once lived.

Snow coated nearby slopes after new snowfall overnight, and security was tightened around the area. The winding roads up to the pass were blocked by authorities on May 7 for dozens of kilometers (miles).

The mountain meetings come after a grandiose state visit by Mr. Jinping on May 6 that included a ceremonial welcome at the monument housing Napoleon’s tomb and a state dinner at the Elysee Palace with celebrities and magnates.

Mr. Jinping is on a trip to Europe aimed at reinvigorating relations at a time of global tensions. He heads next to Serbia and Hungary.

French President Emmanuel Macron, China’s President Xi Jinping and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen attend a trilateral meeting at the Elysee Palace, Paris, as part of the Chinese president’s two-day state visit to France on May 6, 2024.
| Photo Credit: AP

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on May 6 that the EU would not shy away from taking tough measures to protect its economy and security, amid tense trade relations with China.

“China that plays fair is good for all of us,” she said following trilateral talks in Paris with Chinese President Xi Jinping and French President Emmanuel Macron. “Europe will not waver from making tough decisions needed to protect its economy and its security,” she said. “We will defend our companies, we will defend our economies.”

Ms. Von der Leyen said there were “imbalances that remain significant” and “a matter of great concern”. She singled out Chinese subsidies for electric cars and steel that were “flooding the European market”.

Chinas also continued to “massively support its manufacturing sector” whose surplus production could not be absorbed by the rest of the world.

Ms. Von der Leyen also said China was not allowing EU companies fair access to its market. While she was confident of possible progress in talks, von der Leyen also said that “we stand ready to make full use of our trade defence instruments if this is necessary”, adding that “Europe cannot accept market distorting practises”.

Mr. Macron had already pressed Mr. Xi on the Chinese leader’s state visit to France to accept fair global trade rules for EU-China exchanges. “The future of our continent will very clearly depend on our ability to continue to develop relations with China in a balanced manner,” Mr. Macron said.

China’s President Xi Jinping holds the hand of his wife Peng Liyuan as they disembark from a plane at Orly airport, south of Paris, on May 5, 2024.
| Photo Credit: AP

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Sunday arrived in France on a state visit hosted by Emmanuel Macron where the French leader will seek to push his counterpart on issues ranging from Ukraine to trade.

Mr. Xi’s arrival for the visit marking 60 years of diplomatic relations between France and China heralded the start of his first trip to Europe since 2019, which will also see him visit Serbia and Hungary.

But Mr. Xi’s choice of France as the sole major European power to visit indicates the relative warmth in Sino-French relations since Macron made his own state visit to China in April 2023 and acknowledges the French leader’s stature as an EU powerbroker.

The leader of the one-party Communist state of more than 1.4 billion people, accompanied by his wife Peng Liyuan, was welcomed under umbrellas at a drizzly Paris Orly airport by Prime Minister Gabriel Attal.

Mr. Xi is to hold a day of talks in Paris on Monday — also including EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen — followed by a state banquet hosted by Mr. Macron at the Elysee.

Tuesday will see Mr. Macron take Mr. Xi to the Pyrenees mountains to an area he used to visit as a boy for a day of less public and more intimate talks.

Quoted on arrival in Paris by the Xinhua state news agency, Mr. Xi said the development of China-France relations had “injected stability and positive energy into the turbulent world” and China was ready to “enhance political mutual trust, build strategic consensus and deepen exchanges” during the visit.

‘Stability of international order’

A key priority of Mr. Macron will be to warn Mr. Xi of the danger of backing Russia in its invasion of Ukraine, with Western officials concerned Moscow is already using Chinese machine tools in arms production.

Beijing’s ties with Moscow have, if anything, warmed after the invasion and the West wants China above all not to supply weapons to Russia and risk tipping the balance in the conflict.

“It is in our interest to get China to weigh in on the stability of the international order,” said Mr. Macron in an interview with the Economist published on Thursday.

“We must, therefore, work with China to build peace,” he added.

Mr. Macron also said in the same Economist interview that Europe must defend its “strategic interests” in its economic relations with China, accusing Beijing of not respecting the rules on international trade.

But he acknowledged in an interview with the La Tribune Dimanche newspaper that Europeans are “not unanimous” on the strategy to adopt as “certain actors still see China essentially as a market of opportunities” while it “exports massively” to Europe.

The French President had gladdened Chinese state media and troubled some EU allies after his 2023 visit by declaring that Europe should not be drawn into a standoff between China and the United States, particularly over democratic, self-ruled Taiwan.

China views the island as part of its territory and has vowed to take it one day, by force if necessary.

“The worst thing would be to think that we Europeans must be followers and adapt ourselves to the American rhythm and a Chinese overreaction,” Macron said at the time, warning against a “bloc versus bloc logic”.

‘Two core messages’

Rights groups are urging Mr. Macron to bring up human rights in the talks, accusing China of failing to respect the rights of the Uyghur Muslim minority and keeping dozens of journalists behind bars.

“President Macron should make it clear to Xi Jinping that Beijing’s crimes against humanity come with consequences for China’s relations with France,” said Maya Wang, acting China director at Human Rights Watch.

The group said human rights in China had “severely deteriorated” under Mr. Xi’s rule.

However analysts are sceptical that Mr. Macron will be able to exercise much sway over the Chinese leader, even with the lavish red carpet welcome and a trip to the bracing mountain airs of the Col du Tourmalet over 2,000 metres (6,560 feet) above sea level on Tuesday.

The other two countries chosen by Mr. Xi for his tour, Serbia and Hungary, are seen as among the most sympathetic to Moscow in Europe.

“The two core messages from Macron will be on Chinese support to Russia’s military capabilities and Chinese market-distorting practices,” said Janka Oertel, director of the Asia programme at the European Council on Foreign Relations.

“However, both messages are unlikely to have a significant impact on Chinese behaviour: Xi is not on a mission to repair ties, because from his point of view all is well.”