Chinese President Xi Jinping held a video summit with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron on the evening of May 5, and the world is highly concerned about the chance of unfreezing the European-China Comprehensive Investment Agreement (CAI), which has been frozen due to human rights issues. The Chinese official media claimed that the French and German leaders supported the ratification of the CAI as soon as possible, but neither the French nor the German statements revealed whether the three sides discussed the CAI.
This is the first call between the three leaders after the Group of 7 industrialized countries (G7) summit held in June. In a joint communiqué at the G7 summit, Germany and France stressed the importance of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and focused on human rights in Xinjiang and autonomy for Hong Kong, and also called on China to cooperate with the World Health Organization (WHO) in its investigation into the origins of the Wuhan pneumonia (novel coronavirus disease, COVID-19) outbreak.
The official Chinese news agency Xinhua and CCTV, in a release on the German-French-Chinese summit, quoted French President Macron as saying that France is committed to continue to promote cooperation with China in a pragmatic manner and supports a European-Chinese investment agreement; it is also willing to communicate with China on World Trade Organization (WTO) reform, climate change and biodiversity issues, and welcomes Chinese companies to invest in France.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel was also quoted by Chinese official media as saying that the relationship between Europe and China is very important, with many areas of consensus and cooperation, and that mutual respect and enhanced dialogue are needed to reduce differences; Germany supports the convening of a bilateral leadership meeting as soon as possible, and looks forward to the ratification of the EU-China investment agreement as soon as possible.
Merkel also allegedly said that Germany is willing to “actively study” joining the “Partnership for Africa’s Development Initiative” and maintain communication with China on issues such as climate change, biodiversity and African epidemics.
But the German chancellor’s office stated that the three parties exchanged views on European-Chinese relations and also discussed international trade, climate change and biodiversity, and the dialogue also centered on the fight against epidemics, global vaccine supply, as well as international and regional issues. The French presidency said the Franco-German leaders expressed serious concerns about the human rights situation in China and reiterated their opposition to forced labor. The French and German statements did not reveal whether the three sides discussed the EU-China investment agreement.
The European Parliament on May 20 voted overwhelmingly to freeze discussion of the EU-China investment agreement by 599 votes to 30, with 58 abstentions, until Beijing lifts retaliatory sanctions imposed in March on MEPs and other relevant individuals.
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