Michel’s going (alone) — Borrell on China — Berlin blueprint – POLITICO
Staff, 2022-11-24 05:00:00,
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By STUART LAU
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EU CHIEF MEETS XI: European Council President Charles Michel will go to China on December 1 and meet President Xi Jinping, the EU announced this morning. This is a break with tradition as the European Commission president would also traditionally join this kind of trip to make it an EU-China summit. Michel is set to become the second European leader to visit China since the partial pandemic reopening, after Germany’s Chancellor Olaf Scholz. French President Emmanuel Macron, meanwhile, said he would go early next year. “Against the backdrop of a tense geopolitical and economic environment, the visit is a timely opportunity for both EU and China to engage,” the European Council said.
Member states ‘kept in the dark’: At least three EU member country diplomats reached out to China Direct this morning to say they were surprised by the trip and complained they were kept in the dark. A diplomat told us there was no mention of the trip on the “Coreper” level, namely the 27 EU countries’ ambassadors in Brussels. “Pretty sure Berlin and Paris got consulted,” another diplomat said. Michel, though, seemed to suggest in the announcement…
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