French President Emmanuel Macron yesterday was greeted by a huge crowd at a university in southern China as he neared the end of a three-day state visit.
Macron arrived in Guangzhou, where he was met by hundreds of screaming students and fans desperate for a selfie or a high-five with the French leader, in stark contrast with China’s own staid political system.
Macron then spoke to students in the campus gym and answered questions before dining with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) ahead of meetings with Chinese investors and a flight home.
Photo: Reuters
Following talks in Beijing on Thursday with Macron and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Xi said he hoped Russia and Ukraine could hold negotiations as soon as possible and warned all countries against using nuclear weapons.
Xi told reporters he “stood ready to issue a joint call with France” for the resumption of “peace talks as soon as possible,” Xinhua reported.
He did not express a willingness to speak to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, according to Von der Leyen.
However, Xi said he would consider speaking with Zelenskiy when the time is right, according to Von der Leyen and a French diplomat.
Xi has sought to position China as a mediator in the Ukraine conflict, and released a 12-point peace plan that was largely dismissed by the West.
Standing alongside the Chinese president outside the Great Hall of the People ahead of their meeting, Macron told Xi that “Russian aggression in Ukraine has dealt a blow to stability.”
In contrast with the amicable Macron, Von der Leyen has struck a more firm tone in her talks with Chinese officials this week.
On Thursday, she said she had her “deep concerns about the deterioration of the human rights situation in China” with officials, as well as warned Beijing that arms shipments to Russia would “significantly harm” relations.
However, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov dismissed prospects of Beijing’s mediation, insisting on Thursday that Russia had “no choice” but to press on with its offensive, calling the Ukraine situation “complex.”
Macron has been accompanied in China by more than 50 French business leaders, including top bosses of Airbus, EDF and Veolia.
Airbus on Thursday said it would open a second final assembly line in China that is expected to double its production capacity in the country, with the framework for the deal signed by CEO Guillaume Faury in Beijing.
Asia has become a key market for both Airbus and its US rival Boeing, as demand for air travel climbs with an expanding middle class.
Macron met with students at Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou before a scheduled dinner with Xi.
He is also to meet with Chinese investors before departing.
Meanwhile, secret documents that provide details of US and NATO plans to help prepare Ukraine for a spring offensive against Russia have spilled onto social media platforms, the New York Times reported on Thursday.
The Pentagon said it is assessing the reported security breach.
The documents were spread on Twitter and Telegram, and reportedly contain charts and details about weapons deliveries, battalion strengths and other sensitive information, the Times said.
The most recent document is dated March 1, the report said.
One of the documents summarized the training schedules of 12 Ukraine combat brigades, and said nine were being trained by US and NATO forces, and needed 250 tanks and more than 350 mechanized vehicles, the newspaper said.
The documents — at least one of which was labeled “top secret” — were circulated on pro-Russian government channels, it said.
Information in the documents also details expenditure rates for munitions under Ukraine military control, including for the HIMARS rocket systems, the US-made artillery rocket systems that have proven highly effective against Russian forces, it added.
The report quoted military analysts who said that some documents appear to have been altered in a disinformation campaign by Russia, with one inflating Ukrainian troop deaths and minimizing Russian battlefield losses.
Additional reporting by Reuters
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