Raphaël Glucksmann, a member of the European parliament and the lead socialist candidate in France in the upcoming EU elections, has urged Emmanuel Macron to be “firm” against China and “not to remain silent in the face of the crimes” against the Uyghurs.
In an interview with France Inter radio on Monday morning he said it was wrong to roll out the red carpet in the way Macron has for the Chinese president.
“You can receive him, you can talk to anyone, but not like this. Not by taking him to the vacation village of his childhood, to his grandfather’s house, not, as the Élysée puts it, by giving this visit a friendly setting because Xi Jinping is not our friend. In addition to deporting the Uyghur people, repressing the Tibetans and Hong Kongers, suppressing opponents and threatening the Taiwanese.”
Glucksmann also claimed that China is killing French green tech putting solar panel companies out of business with its cut-price alternatives.
“We used to have solar panel champions in France and Europe. Today, how many companies produce solar panels in France? There’s only one left.
He added: “What I want for us is to no longer be the gall guys,” he said noting that when Canada sees distortions in trade with the Chinese it imposed tariffs of over 200%. “In Europe they charge 15%. That’s not a deterrent.”
Chinese President Xi Jinping will visit Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan this week, Chinese media reported on Monday, citing the Chinese Foreign Ministry.
Xi will attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in Samarkand and will visit Kazakhstan from September 14 to September 16, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said.
As previously reported, Russian President Vladimir Putin plans to hold a meeting with Chinese President Xi on the sidelines of the SCO summit in Samarkand.
The SCO summit will be held in Samarkand on September 15-16.
