Xi tells Macron: China stays neutral in Ukraine war

Reemphasizing his country’s neutrality in the Ukraine War after Washington accused Beijing of helping Moscow rebuild its defense industrial base, Chinese President Xi Jinping has begun his first trip to Europe in five years.

In an an article under his own byline, published by the French daily Le Figaro, Xi says that China did not start the Ukraine crisis, nor is it a party to or a participant in it.

“China has been playing a constructive role in striving for peaceful settlement of the crisis,” Xi says. “China has delivered to Ukraine many shipments of humanitarian aid and sent its special representative many times to mediate among the countries concerned.”

“The longer the Ukraine crisis drags on, the greater harm it will do to Europe and the world,” he says. “China hopes that peace and stability will return to Europe at an early date. We stand ready to work with France and the whole international community to find a reasonable way out of the crisis.”

The Chinese top leader started his six-day visit to France, Serbia and Hungary on Sunday.

On Monday, Xi, French President Emmanuel Macron and EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen held a trilateral meeting in Paris.

Macron called coordination with Beijing on “major crises” including Ukraine “absolutely decisive.”

Macron and von der Leyen also urged “fair rules for all” in Europe-China trade, referring to China’s industrial overcapacity problem.

The meeting came after the US Treasury Department and Department of State on May 1 sanctioned about 300 entities, including 20 companies based in China and Hong Kong, and accused them of shipping electronic parts and dual-use products to Russia to sustain Moscow’s war machine in Ukraine.

The sanctioned Chinese firms include a