Under the snow, Emmanuel Macron takes Xi Jinping to the Pyrenees for a personal getaway

After the gold of Elysee, the snow of the peaks: Emmanuel Macron takes Xi Jinping to the Pyrenees on Tuesday on the second day of his state visit, for a getaway personal supposed to allow a more direct dialogue on the war in Ukraine or trade disagreements. Our French mountains, I hope will continue to inspire usthe French president said lyrically on Monday, welcoming his Chinese counterpart to Paris for the first time since 2019. He said he expected, in the Hautes-Pyrnes (south-west), fruitful and friendly discussions.

The two leaders, accompanied by their wives, arrived at the beginning of the afternoon at the Col du Tourmalet, the legendary climb of the Tour de France, where, at 2115 meters, the weather is still wintery. Under heavy snowflakes, the sound of the three-hole flute and the accordion resounded, while dancers in traditional clothing performed, arms raised, a few steps in front of the two presidents, all smiles, sheltered under large black umbrellas.

Cheese, ham and Tour de France

Peng Liyuan, pose of Xi Jinping, beats the rhythm. Emmanuel Macron asks for a souvenir photo before entering the mountain restaurant of Eric Abadie, his farmer friend, and offering gifts to his counterpart: wool blankets from the Pyrenees, a bottle of Armagnac, brets, a yellow jersey of the Tour de France…

I know you like sport (…) We would be delighted to have Chinese riders on the Tourlaunches the French president who welcomes his Chinese counterpart to France for the first time since 2019. Xi Jinping promises in return to advertise local ham before ensuring love cheese a lots.

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This Pyrenean escapade is a sort of response to the tea ceremony that the two leaders shared last year, in Canton, in the official residence where the Chinese president's father had lived when he was governor of Guangdong province. The setting of the Col du Tourmalet, under the snowy fog, in any case offers a striking contrast with the Elysee Palace where, between a welcome with great pomp and a sumptuous banquet, Emmanuel Macron and Xi Jinping did not seek to hide the differences over trade between Europe and China.

The French president called for a fair competition frameworkwelcoming the outcome of the discussions for having preserved French cognac from the threat of Chinese customs taxes provisional. Called upon to display a united continental front, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen warned that the European Union would take firm decisions to protect your economydenouncing the influx of massively subsidized Chinese electric vehicles.

China's so-called overcapacity problem does not existXi Jinping replied flatly. Concerning Ukraine, he wanted to be more consensual, reaffirming his desire to work towards a political solution. And he supported an Olympic truce during the Paris Games this summer, also pushed by Emmanuel Macron. According to a French diplomatic source, this truce could serve, with regard to Ukraine, to initiate a more political process after more than two years of conflict.

But Paris, which has insisted for a year that Beijing puts pressure on Russia to help end the war, wants to be lucid about the limited chances of a rapid breakthrough. Especially since the Chinese president remains the main ally of his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, whom he is due to receive soon.

Power of seduction

The Pyrenees stage could, in the mind of the French delegation, promote a frank and friendly exchange on these difficult subjects. The idea is to break the imposing protocol that accompanies the slightest movement of Chinese number one.

This corner of the mountain is directly linked to the very personal story of Emmanuel Macron, explains those around him. The one who celebrates the seven years since his first election on Tuesday spent many holidays between the town of Bagnres-de-Bigorre and La Mongie with his grandparents to whom he was very attached.

Emmanuel Macron's diplomacy has always focused, perhaps excessively, on the power of seductionanalyzes Bertrand Badie, specialist in international relations at Sciences Po. But Xi Jinping, is not really a great sentimentalist and no one, until now, has found the key to Euro-Chinese relationswarns the researcher.

The Socialist candidate for the June European elections Raphal Glucksmann denounced the friendly tone of this official visit. The man who deports the Ughurs, who represses the Hong Kongers and the Tibetans is not our friendhe declared on RTL.

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