Haniya Ali is pursuing her Bachelor's in Government and Public Policy from National Defence University, Islamabad.
G-20 Summit
The 17th gathering of the group of 20 took place in Nusa Dua, Bali, Indonesia, on November 15–16, 2022, and was known as the G20 Bali Summit. On December 1, 2021, Indonesia assumed the chairmanship, which lasted through the summit in the fourth quarter of 2022. The mostly optimistic tone established by Xi and Biden persisted until the end of the summit, despite criticism of Chinese human rights violations and concern over its intentions in the Taiwan Strait.
However, there were also chances for Xi’s rivals to voice their complaints in person. The detention of Australian citizens Cheng Lei and Yang Hengjun as well as human rights abuses against the Uyghur population in Xinjiang were brought up by PM Albanese, the first Australian prime minister to meet Xi since 2016. Nevertheless, Albanese described their meeting as “positive and constructive.”
Photo: AFP
In the meantime, Macron allegedly expressed his desire to visit China in 2023, subject to Covid-19 constraints, and encouraged Xi to convince Putin to negotiate an end to the conflict in Ukraine. The focus was also on food and energy security as well as the climate problem.
France‘s Ties with China
Particularly when it comes to the technology industry, the United States has adopted a combative stance towards China. However, the European Union has considered finding a balance between its economic ties with China and its political affinity with the United States. Europe needs to invest in its own green technology, according to France’s finance minister.
European leaders have described China as a geopolitical foe, but they also acknowledge that they want to grow their business relations with Beijing and collaborate in the fight against climate change.
According to figures from the European Commission, China was the third-largest partner for EU exports of commodities in 2021 and also had the biggest chunk of imports. The great wall of China is dividing US and France as the Inflation Reduction Act was criticized by the French president, who claimed that US incentives were harming European businesses by giving their American rivals an unfair edge.
China and France Against the Global Chaos
Prior to the anticipated visit by French President Emmanuel Macron, China’s top diplomat Wang Yi and his French counterpart discussed an important bilateral agenda for the two countries. Following a ten-year tenure as foreign minister, Wang was elevated to the 24-member Politburo and given the responsibility of the director of the Central Committee’s Foreign Affairs Commission Office. His phone call with Emmanuel Bonne, Macron’s diplomatic advisor, was his first official diplomatic task since that time.
The healthy and steady growth of Sino-French relations is of particular relevance in the current world scenario, which is full of instability and upheaval. China and France should increase strategic communication and play a significant role in coping with global changes as independent big nations and permanent members of the UN Security Council.
China is prepared to enhance strategic mutual trust, step up high-level exchanges with France, and create new opportunities for a comprehensive strategic relationship between the two countries. When Macron met with President Xi Jinping of China in Indonesia in November, he gave the impression that he would travel to China at some point in 2023, but no specifics about the trip have been made public.
Following the 20th Communist Party congress, a group of European politicians, including German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron, received invitations to travel to China. Despite disagreements between China and the European Union over their stances on Ukraine, Macron, who has established himself as a mediator in the crisis in Ukraine, is anticipated to ask China for assistance in putting an end to the conflict during his visit.
Conclusion
Numerous concerns such as Taiwan and human rights have strained ties between Beijing and the EU, and recent efforts within the EU to lessen economic dependency on China have intensified. However, China promotes closer ties with France ahead of Macron’s potential visit. This expected tour of the French President will strengthen the ambiguous ties between the countries with a clearer vision of trade and energy supply.
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