French President Emmanuel Macron, who believes a personal touch is the key to diplomacy, lured President Xi Jinping of China to a 7,000-foot pass in the Pyrenees on Tuesday, hoping to show off the panoramic views that had marked his childhood. but encounter dense fog and wild snow flurries.
It was a long, slippery road up the mountain, in pouring rain, but that didn’t stop crowds of admiring Chinese with red flags and bunting from gathering in almost every village along the road, miraculously relocated to a remote area of the southwest. of France and apparently uniform in their enthusiasm.
Undeterred but two hours late, Macron greeted Xi under an umbrella at one of his favorite restaurants, “L’Auberge du Berger,” or the “Shepherd’s Parade,” where dancers in colorful local costumes twirled and danced to the crowd. rhythm of the sounds of a flute, an accordion and a tam-tam.
Xi remained impassive, but his wife, Peng Liyuan, smiled widely and applauded.
Using the familiar form “tu” to address Xi, 70, rather than the formal “vous” that would have been more common among heads of state, Macron, 46, offered the Chinese leader a yellow T-shirt signed by the president. from last year. The winner of the Tour de France, Jonas Vingegaard, Danish cyclist.
“I know how much you love sport,” Macron said. Xi is known for his interest in football.
The Col du Tourmalet, where the leaders met, has mythical status in the Tour de France; Its steep and winding climb is a tough test. It is also a place dear to Macron, who came here regularly from his home in northern France to stay at the nearby home of his maternal grandmother, Germaine Nogues, the member of his family about whom he speaks most effusively. .
Eric Abédie, the chef and friend of Macron, offered a lunch of ham (cured for 24 months, from the region’s black pigs), lamb shoulder and blueberry tart. Cheeses and good wines were abundant. The ham, served as an appetizer, particularly impressed Mr. Xi, who said he would promote it in his country. The atmosphere was festive, intimate and relaxed, as Macron desired.
What exactly it would accomplish was another question. During two days of talks, Xi smiled a lot but offered little, particularly in the face of European requests that he help end the war in Ukraine. Under a succession of leaders, including Vladimir V. Putin of Russia and Donald J. Trump, the former American president, Macron has demonstrated faith in his powers of seduction, only to be rejected or ignored.
The French officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with diplomatic practice, said Macron had forged a close and unique relationship with Xi since they first met as presidents six years ago, offering him a conduit into Xi’s intimate thinking. the Chinese leader that no other Western power has.
They pointed to a joint Sino-French statement on the Middle East, issued on Monday, condemning all forms of terrorism, including the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, as evidence of the importance of this bond at a time of great global instability.
Others have a different view. “Voters can be seduced,” said Bertrand Badie, an international relations expert at Sciences Po University in Paris, noting that Macron has done it more than once. “It’s harder to translate that into the complexities of international relations,” even if a “new partnership with China” were a worthwhile goal.
The lunch itself was private, a four-person affair for the two leaders and their spouses. It had been planned for the terrace, but for obvious reasons it was not possible. The idea was for both sides to speak freely and frankly.
Little was leaked, but officials said Macron had raised human rights issues in China on both Monday and Tuesday, although no reference has been made in any statement.
The issue became particularly sensitive after Valérie Heyer, who will lead Macron’s restive Renaissance Party in elections to the European Parliament next month, described China’s treatment of Uyghurs in the northwestern region of Xinjiang in the harshest terms.
In an interview with Sud Radio this week, he said his personal opinion was that “most likely” Chinese oppression amounted to genocide. French officials had no comment but said Macron did not use the word.
However, they did point out that the wine served was a 2008 Jean-Luc Colombo vintage, the year of the Beijing Olympics, and that her “robe rouge,” or red dress, recalled the name of a famous Chinese tea made in Fujian province. , one that was once ruled by Xi.
Diplomacy is a subtle business, at least as the French practice it.