Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez yesterday urged “dialogue and cooperation” during a visit to China as he seeks to boost ties with the economic giant despite a trade standoff between Beijing and the EU.
Speaking at a forum in Beijing, Sanchez hailed “strong ties” between China and Spain.
“Even on those issues where our positions do not fully coincide, we maintain a constructive willingness to engage in dialogue and cooperation,” he said in a video shared on social media.
Photo: EPA-EFE
“We are committed to developing a positive agenda and seeking consensual solutions that benefit all parties,” he said.
He then met with the Spain-China Business Advisory Council — part of efforts to “deepen trade and investment relations” between the two nations.
“Our objective is clear: to foster a balanced relationship, based on respect and reciprocity that benefits both nations,” Sanchez wrote on social media.
Sanchez was due to meet Chinese Premier Li Qiang (李強) at Beijing’s Great Hall of the People yesterday afternoon, as well as Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and top lawmakers, according to a schedule provided by his office.
His trip also takes him to Shanghai today and tomorrow, where he is scheduled to meet local officials and businesses, as well as inaugurate a new Cervantes Institute cultural center.
Sanchez’s visit comes against the backdrop of mounting trade tensions between the EU and China. The European Commission last month announced that it planned to impose five-year import duties of up to 36 percent on electric vehicles imported from China.
Beijing in June launched an anti-dumping investigation into pork imports from the EU in response to an application submitted by a local trade grouping on behalf of domestic producers. The Iberian nation is the EU’s largest exporter of pork products to China, selling more than 560,000 tonnes last year.
‘GREAT OPPRTUNITY’: The Paraguayan president made the remarks following Donald Trump’s tapping of several figures with deep Latin America expertise for his Cabinet Paraguay President Santiago Pena called US president-elect Donald Trump’s incoming foreign policy team a “dream come true” as his nation stands to become more relevant in the next US administration. “It’s a great opportunity for us to advance very, very fast in the bilateral agenda on trade, security, rule of law and make Paraguay a much closer ally” to the US, Pena said in an interview in Washington ahead of Trump’s inauguration today. “One of the biggest challenges for Paraguay was that image of an island surrounded by land, a country that was isolated and not many people know about it,”
DIALOGUE: US president-elect Donald Trump on his Truth Social platform confirmed that he had spoken with Xi, saying ‘the call was a very good one’ for the US and China US president-elect Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) discussed Taiwan, trade, fentanyl and TikTok in a phone call on Friday, just days before Trump heads back to the White House with vows to impose tariffs and other measures on the US’ biggest rival. Despite that, Xi congratulated Trump on his second term and pushed for improved ties, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. The call came the same day that the US Supreme Court backed a law banning TikTok unless it is sold by its China-based parent company. “We both attach great importance to interaction, hope for
‘FIGHT TO THE END’: Attacking a court is ‘unprecedented’ in South Korea and those involved would likely face jail time, a South Korean political pundit said Supporters of impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol yesterday stormed a Seoul court after a judge extended the impeached leader’s detention over his ill-fated attempt to impose martial law. Tens of thousands of people had gathered outside the Seoul Western District Court on Saturday in a show of support for Yoon, who became South Korea’s first sitting head of state to be arrested in a dawn raid last week. After the court extended his detention on Saturday, the president’s supporters smashed windows and doors as they rushed inside the building. Hundreds of police officers charged into the court, arresting dozens and denouncing an
‘DISCRIMINATION’: The US Office of Personnel Management ordered that public DEI-focused Web pages be taken down, while training and contracts were canceled US President Donald Trump’s administration on Tuesday moved to end affirmative action in federal contracting and directed that all federal diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) staff be put on paid leave and eventually be laid off. The moves follow an executive order Trump signed on his first day ordering a sweeping dismantling of the federal government’s diversity and inclusion programs. Trump has called the programs “discrimination” and called to restore “merit-based” hiring. The executive order on affirmative action revokes an order issued by former US president Lyndon Johnson, and curtails DEI programs by federal contractors and grant recipients. It is using one of the
RSS