Former French MEP Florian Philippot has expressed his satisfaction with China seemingly preferring to ignore European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who accompanied French President Emmanuel Macron during his visit to Beijing earlier this week.
Philippot, who is also head of France's Eurosceptic party The Patriots, tweeted that “China put civil servant von der Leyen in her proper place during Macron’s visit.”
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen (C) leaves after a press conference, at the EU Delegation to China in Beijing on April 6, 2023
© AFP 2023 / JADE GAO
The ex-MEP pointed to the Chinese government’s “zero reception and disregard” with relation to von der Leyen, citing an “excellent” fact that she “even had to leave the country using a flight for ordinary passengers.”
The remarks come after a US media outlet reported that when in China, Macron “got parades and banquets,” while von der Leyen “was mostly left alone.”
According to the outlet, “when Macron’s plane touched down, China’s foreign minister personally welcomed him. When European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen arrived, she got the ecology minister — at the regular passenger exit.”
The media outlet then went further, noting that while the French president’s schedule was “overflowing, von der Leyen’s was bare-bones.”
“While Macron was attending a lavish state banquet Thursday night with Chinese President Xi Jinping, von der Leyen was giving a sober press conference at the EU delegation’s own headquarters. While state media trumpeted the Sino-French relationship, Chinese social media demonized von der Leyen as an American puppet,” the outlet pointed out.
According to a UK broadcaster, quoting unnamed sources, “some” call von der Leyen the "bad cop from Brussels," in an apparent nod to “her strong relationship with US President Joe Biden and vocal support for NATO’s position.”
The broadcaster recalled in this regard that days before her arrival in Beijing, von der Leyen delivered “a strongly-worded speech,” in which she criticized the Chinese president for maintaining friendly relations with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, also bashing China's peace plan on the Ukraine conflict as "simply not viable."
Russia, which continues its special military operation in Ukraine, underlines that it is open for negotiations with Kiev, even after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky signed a decree prohibiting talks with Moscow. China proposed a 12-point roadmap last month in a bid to bring the sides to the negotiating table.