BEIJING: France is hoping Beijing will be “vigilant” against any Chinese support for Russia’s war in Ukraine, Paris’s top diplomat said Friday following a day of talks with Chinese officials.
“We are counting on the vigilance of the Chinese authorities so that no structure in China… contributes directly or indirectly to Russia’s illegal war effort,” Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna told a press conference in Beijing after meeting with her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi.
“We talk about this regularly, we also talk about it at the highest level,” she added, referring to recent talks between Chinese President Xi Jinping and French leader Emmanuel Macron.
The top diplomat is in the Chinese capital for a one-day visit devoted to dialogue on exchanges between Paris and Beijing, but also dominated by current events, in particular the Israel-Hamas war and the conflict in Ukraine.
“We want to have an in-depth dialogue with China on global issues, of course, but also on major crises,” Colonna said, while admitting she had “not yet spoken” about those subjects with her counterpart during her visit.
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China has refused to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and has deepened its economic, diplomatic and military cooperation with Moscow since the start of the war in February 2022.
The United States has said it is aware that Chinese companies have aided Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, urging Beijing to “crack down”.
Colonna said Friday she had “no doubt” about China’s “capacity to carry the message that is that of the international community, crisis after crisis… of full and real respect for fundamental principles of the United Nations Charter”.
“China is attached to it, France is too,” she said.
“On major crises we want to cooperate with China to provide responses to the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine,” she said.
“Cooperation with China is essential to foster a just and lasting peace, a peace consistent with international law,” she said.
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