Chinese authorities behind a major trade expo in Shanghai pulled an opening ceremony address by European Council President Charles Michel that was set to criticize Russia’s “illegal war” in Ukraine and call for reduced trade dependency on China, diplomats said.
The pre-recorded video by Michel was meant to be one of several from world leaders and heads of international organizations, including Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), at the opening of the China International Import Expo (CIIE) on Friday, three European diplomats said.
The diplomats, who cannot be named due to the sensitivity of the matter, said they were surprised the speech was removed.
Photo: Reuters
“President Michel was invited to address 5th Hongqiao Forum/CIIE in Shanghai,” said Barend Leyts, a spokesman for Michel. “As requested by the Chinese authorities, we had indeed provided a pre-recorded message, which was ultimately not shown. We have addressed this through the normal diplomatic channels.”
No one from the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs or the co-organizers of the expo, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce and the Shanghai City Government, responded to requests for comment.
Other dignitaries who did speak at the ceremony after Xi included the IMF managing director, the WTO director-general and the presidents of Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Belarus, the expo’s official Web site says.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko is a staunch ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin whose country has hosted thousands of Russian troops before and during what Moscow calls a “special operation” in Ukraine.
Michel’s speech was set to be heavily critical of “Russia’s illegal war against Ukraine” and say Europe is learning “important lessons” from it, according to excerpts of the address provided by European diplomats.
Europe has been overdependent on Russia for fossil fuels, leading to a trade imbalance, Michel was to say.
“In Europe, we want balance in our trade relations ... to avoid overdependencies,” said the diplomats familiar with what he was to say. “This is also true of our trade relations with China.”
Michel was also set to call for China to do more do put an end to the bloodshed in Ukraine.
China has consistently refused to criticize Russia’s aggression, which has ravaged cities across Ukraine and killed thousands of troops and civilians since it began on Feb. 24.
“China has a role in using its influence to stop Russia’s brutal war ... through your so-called “no-limits” partnership with Russia, “ Michel was to say, referring to a pact announced by Xi and Putin in Beijing before the war began. “You, China, can help put an end to this.”
Xi and Michel are expected to attend and meet at the G20 heads of state summit in Bali on Tuesday and Wednesday next week.
The president of the European Council is one of the EU’s top ranked officials whose role includes representing the bloc at international summits and bilateral summits with other heads of state.
Since 2019, the EU has officially regarded China as a partner, an economic competitor and systemic rival.
The EU’s foreign policy service said in a paper last month that Beijing should now be thought of primarily as a competitor that is promoting “an alternative vision of the world order.”
ANGER: A video shared online showed residents in a neighborhood confronting the national security minister, attempting to drag her toward floodwaters Argentina’s port city of Bahia Blanca has been “destroyed” after being pummeled by a year’s worth of rain in a matter of hours, killing 13 and driving hundreds from their homes, authorities said on Saturday. Two young girls — reportedly aged four and one — were missing after possibly being swept away by floodwaters in the wake of Friday’s storm. The deluge left hospital rooms underwater, turned neighborhoods into islands and cut electricity to swaths of the city. Argentine Minister of National Security Patricia Bullrich said Bahia Blanca was “destroyed.” The death toll rose to 13 on Saturday, up from 10 on Friday, authorities
Two daughters of an Argentine mountaineer who died on an icy peak 40 years ago have retrieved his backpack from the spot — finding camera film inside that allowed them a glimpse of some of his final experiences. Guillermo Vieiro was 44 when he died in 1985 — as did his climbing partner — while descending Argentina’s Tupungato lava dome, one of the highest peaks in the Americas. Last year, his backpack was spotted on a slope by mountaineer Gabriela Cavallaro, who examined it and contacted Vieiro’s daughters Guadalupe, 40, and Azul, 44. Last month, the three set out with four other guides
Local officials from Russia’s ruling party have caused controversy by presenting mothers of soldiers killed in Ukraine with gifts of meat grinders, an appliance widely used to describe Russia’s brutal tactics on the front line. The United Russia party in the northern Murmansk region posted photographs on social media showing officials smiling as they visited bereaved mothers with gifts of flowers and boxed meat grinders for International Women’s Day on Saturday, which is widely celebrated in Russia. The post included a message thanking the “dear moms” for their “strength of spirit and the love you put into bringing up your sons.” It
‘LIMITING MYSELF’: New Zealand’s foreign minister said that the omments by Phil Goff were ‘disappointing’ and made the diplomat’s position in the UK ‘untenable’ New Zealand’s most senior envoy to the UK has lost his job over remarks he made about US President Donald Trump at an event in London this week, New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters said yesterday. Phil Goff, who is New Zealand’s High Commissioner to the UK, made the comments at an event held by international affairs think tank Chatham House in London on Tuesday. Goff asked a question from the audience of the guest speaker, Finnish Minister of Foreign Affairs Elina Valtonen, in which he said he had been re-reading a famous speech by former British prime minister Winston
RSS