“He’s facing riots and protests at home over pension reforms, but he also wants to further his image and role as a global statesman, that he’s sort of like this bridge between the west and China,” he said.
Mr Macron had tried to do the same thing after Russia invaded Ukraine, continuing a series of calls with Russian President Vladimir Putin to keep the communication lines open.
That proved “quite ineffectual” and only served to delay Ukrainian aid by months, said Dr Dutt.
“In this case, I think he’s playing more of a long-term game. That’s why he’s not just talking about business ties, but he’s also thinking about cultural ties, to use the soft power of France to actually make sure that the possibility of conflict remains minimum,” he said.
EU STANCE TOWARDS CHINA
The visit by the European duo is an attempt to show that there is unity within the EU over its China policy, said Dr Jean-Philippe Beja from the Centre for International Studies at Sciences Po university.
“China has been trying to divide the European front and the European Union. So what I think is that they are going to try to present a united front to show that Europe is itself a great power, and that as a great power it has its own foreign policy and its policy towards China,” he said.
Dr Beja identified the war in Ukraine as a topic that will feature heavily in the discussions.
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