Xi’s visit a hard reality check for EU-China relations

President Xi Jinping’s European tour, his first in five years, has shown how much EU member states, at least those in the core of Europe, need a reality check.

Not only has Xi taken quite some time to visit the continent but in doing so he chose to visit his staunchest European allies, Serbia and Hungary, beyond France.

President Emmanuel Macron was an important target for Xi since he has recently taken a much harsher stance on Russia’s war in Ukraine and strongly supports the EU’s strategic autonomy and EU economic security strategies. These latter two initiatives are very much focused on China.

On the former, China’s official exchanges with Russia are at a record high. China has repeatedly abstained from United Nations resolutions condemning Russia’s aggression against Ukraine.

Meanwhile, Chinese economic and financial support for Russia is not limited to its imports of Russian oil and gas at appealing cut-rate prices. (India has also gorged on Western-sanctioned Russian energy).

Most importantly, China is reportedly the main external supplier of everything Russia needs to keep its war machine up and running, from trucks to chips to drones.

Such Chinese exports risk being officially classified as “dual-use” or plainly as weapons, as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned during his recent trip to Beijing.

Macron sent a similar warning to Xi. So far the EU has imposed fines on only three Chinese companies delivering dual-use technology to Russia, compared to a much longer list of companies sanctioned by the US.

On EU economic security, Macron had European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen at his side when he met Xi at the Elysée. She reportedly spelled out the full list of EU concerns with China’s economic