Monitoring Desk
BEIJING: Chinese ambassador to the European Union (EU) Fu Cong said European Council President Charles Michel and European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen might visit China in the first half of 2023, China’s state-backed Global Times reported.
Preparations for the EU’s top two officials’ visit are underway, and “very frequent high-level bilateral visits” between China and the EU are expected to start soon, Fu said in an interview.
The two sides have taken conflicting positions on the year-long Ukraine war. EU diplomats criticize China’s refusal to describe the Ukraine conflict as an invasion or demand for Russian withdrawal from Ukrainian territory.
Fu Cong said in the interview that the EU’s anger with China over Ukraine was “very irrational” and that Beijing did not want the issue to affect the development of relations with the bloc.
European Union expresses concern over China’s peace proposal
After the Chinese foreign ministry published a position paper expounding its stance on the war on Friday, the EU’s top diplomat in China, Jorge Toledo, told media in Beijing that parts of the peace proposal were concerning.
“The paper did not mention an aggressor, which is strange because it is clear that there is an aggressor and there is an aggressor. It is illegal and unprovoked. So that is a bit concerning,” said Toledo.
Fu Cong said in December that the war had put China in a challenging position in its ties with the EU after Michel asked Chinese President Xi Jinping to use influence with Russia over its invasion of Ukraine during a visit to Beijing in early December.
