https://sputnikglobe.com/20230407/macrons-beijing-mission-will-fail-to-split-china-from-russia-experts-say-1109233941.html
Macron's Beijing Mission Will Fail to Split China From Russia, Experts Say
Macron's Beijing Mission Will Fail to Split China From Russia, Experts Say
Sputnik International
Emmanuel Macron may have hoped to drive a wedge between Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin, but he will instead go home red-faced, argue K J Noh and Dr Kenneth Hammond.
2023-04-07T14:30+0000
2023-04-07T14:30+0000
2023-06-19T12:46+0000
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French President Emmanuel Macron's will leave Beijing empty-handed if he hopes to change China's stance on Russia and Ukraine, scholars have said.Macron and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen flew to the Chinese capital on Wednesday for talks with President Xi Jinping.On the agenda was China's 12-point blueprint for a ceasefire in Ukraine, which calls on the Kiev's western backers to abandon their "Cold War" mentality and unilateral use of coercive sanctions and heed Russia's security concerns.Dr Kenneth Hammond told Sputnik that the leaders' mission was based on a "false expectation" that China would "jump ship and suddenly throw itself in with the US-led forces in the West" against Russia's military operation in Ukraine.The lecturer condemned the "demonization of China" in Western media and politics in his country."The negative portrayal of China has been so relentless, for at least the last decade and more," Hammond said. "The American government, especially in just the last few years, has been relentless in trying to shut down communication, knowledge, information exchange between people in China and people in the West."The Confucius Institutes, where Americans can learn the Chinese language, have been suppressed, while Chinese academics working in the US "have been targeted by the FBI and the Justice Department on grounds that are all almost always dismissed as having no real basis in fact."He recalled taking many groups of Americans on trips to China over the years. "When they get there, the first thing they say is 'What the heck is going on here? Where are all the police? Why do these people look happy? How come they're wearing decent clothes?'," Hammond said. "We just have this this mythology that China is poor and oppressed and everybody's suffering and the government is brutal and all."K J Noh pointed out to Sputnik that Macron's trip to Beijing came as he was facing "terrific" protests against his attempt to raise the state pension age from 62 to 64, "so now he's beating down protesters all over France."Macron is "trying to do the kind of global statesman impression," the scholar said, walking a tightrope between his country's interests and those of the US which "has been putting tremendous pressure on France and all the EU nations to fall into line... they want them to decouple from China."The journalist argued that Macron's approach was a "veiled refutation of the US position" and an "endorsement of China's peace plan" which Washington has rejected out of hand.Von der Leyen's presence, by contrast, was on US orders to act as a "chaperone" to make sure Macron doesn't go too far off the track."Macron has a weakness for matronly people who tell him what to do, and he may fall in line," the scholar cracked in a jibe at the French president's marriage to his former schoolteacher."Von der Leyen is charging that China is pursuing systematic change of the international order, and she wants to reset relations with China and she wants to 'de-risk' relations," Noh noted. "De-risk means it's a soft word for decouple."Beijing's refusal to criticize Moscow over its conflict with US proxy Ukraine — in defence of the Russian-speaking population of the Donbass, Crimea, Zaporozhye and Kherson — may stem from Washington's recent change in stance towards Taiwan.Former US House of Representatives speaker Nancy Pelosi, a member of President Joe Biden's Democratic Party, made an unannounced visit to Taipei last August on a US Air Force jet, meeting President Tsai Ing-wen in breach of Washington's stated 'one China policy' of recognizing Beijing's authority over both the mainland and the island province.That prompted a breakdown in relations with China and a rise in military tensions, more recently exacerbated by the US shooting-down of a Chinese weather balloon that drifted over US territory. "The reality of it is that the US is escalating to war," Noh warned, tracing Washington's hostility to Beijing back to the end of the Second World War and the Chinese revolution.Even after the US altered its 'one China' policy to recognise only the People's Republic of China, it still maintained "grey-zone relations" with Taiwan where "we send them troops and we send them weapons, but not really... kind of don't ask, don't tell situation."For more sharp analysis, check out our radio line-up.
https://sputnikglobe.com/20230406/macron-xi-talks-french-president-wants-to-relaunch-strategic-and-global-partnership-with-china-1109185978.html
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Macron's Beijing Mission Will Fail to Split China From Russia, Experts Say
14:30 GMT 07.04.2023 (Updated: 12:46 GMT 19.06.2023) Emmanuel Macron may have hoped to drive a wedge between Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin, but he will instead go home red-faced, argue scholar, educator and journalist K J Noh, a member of Veterans for Peace, and Dr Kenneth Hammond, professor of East Asian and global history at New Mexico State University.
French President Emmanuel Macron's will leave Beijing empty-handed if he hopes to change China's stance on Russia and Ukraine, scholars have said.
Macron and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen flew to the Chinese capital on Wednesday for talks with President Xi Jinping.
On the agenda was China's 12-point
blueprint for a ceasefire in Ukraine, which calls on the Kiev's western backers to abandon their "Cold War" mentality and unilateral use of coercive sanctions and heed Russia's security concerns.
Dr Kenneth Hammond told
Sputnik that the leaders' mission was based on a "false expectation" that China would "jump ship and suddenly throw itself in with the US-led forces in the West" against Russia's military operation in Ukraine.
"China clearly restated its commitment to seeking a peaceful resolution of the situation in Ukraine," Hammond said, respecting "the security interests of all parties, respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity" — including Russia's. "These are issues, these are principles that have animated Chinese foreign policy, not just in regard to the Ukraine situation, but more broadly for for many, many, many years."
The lecturer condemned the "demonization of China" in Western media and politics in his country.
"The negative portrayal of China has been so relentless, for at least the last decade and more," Hammond said. "The American government, especially in just the last few years, has been relentless in trying to shut down communication, knowledge, information exchange between people in China and people in the West."
The Confucius Institutes, where Americans can learn the Chinese language, have been suppressed, while Chinese academics working in the US "have been targeted by the FBI and the Justice Department on grounds that are all almost always dismissed as having no real basis in fact."
He recalled taking many groups of Americans on trips to China over the years. "When they get there, the first thing they say is 'What the heck is going on here? Where are all the police? Why do these people look happy? How come they're wearing decent clothes?'," Hammond said. "We just have this this mythology that China is poor and oppressed and everybody's suffering and the government is brutal and all."
K J Noh pointed out to
Sputnik that Macron's trip to Beijing came as he was facing "terrific" protests against his attempt to raise the state pension age from 62 to 64, "so now he's beating down protesters all over France."
Macron is "trying to do the kind of global statesman impression," the scholar said, walking a tightrope between his country's interests and those of the US which "has been putting tremendous pressure on France and all the EU nations to fall into line... they want them to decouple from China."
"Macron doesn't want to decouple from China," however, said Noh. "You can see that because he took with him 60 executives from France's top corporations, because he wants to get some kind of commercial benefit out of these relations. He's going there with his hat in his hand."
The journalist argued that Macron's approach was a "veiled refutation of the
US position" and an "endorsement of China's peace plan" which Washington has rejected out of hand.
Von der Leyen's presence, by contrast, was on US orders to act as a "chaperone" to make sure Macron doesn't go too far off the track.
"Macron has a weakness for matronly people who tell him what to do, and he may fall in line," the scholar cracked in a jibe at the French president's marriage to his former schoolteacher.
"Von der Leyen is charging that China is pursuing systematic change of the international order, and she wants to reset relations with China and she wants to 'de-risk' relations," Noh noted. "De-risk means it's a soft word for decouple."
Beijing's refusal to criticize Moscow over its conflict with US proxy Ukraine — in defence of the Russian-speaking population of the Donbass, Crimea, Zaporozhye and Kherson — may stem from Washington's recent change in stance towards Taiwan.
Former US House of Representatives speaker Nancy Pelosi, a member of President Joe Biden's Democratic Party, made an unannounced visit to Taipei last August on a US Air Force jet, meeting President Tsai Ing-wen in breach of Washington's stated 'one China policy' of recognizing Beijing's authority over both the mainland and the island province.
That prompted a breakdown in relations with China and a rise in military tensions, more recently exacerbated by the US shooting-down of a Chinese weather balloon that drifted over US territory.
"The reality of it is that the US is escalating to war," Noh warned, tracing Washington's hostility to Beijing back to the end of the Second World War and the Chinese revolution.
"It thought that it owned China. And when China turned communist, it became very, very upset," Noh said. "There's been a continuous Cold War and it has used Taiwan Island, this kind of corrupt state that lost the civil war as its forward force projection platform."
Even after the US altered its 'one China' policy to recognise only the People's Republic of China, it still maintained "grey-zone relations" with Taiwan where "we send them troops and we send them weapons, but not really... kind of don't ask, don't tell situation."
For more sharp analysis, check out our radio line-up. 
