The visit of French President Emmanuel Macron and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to Beijing cannot be presented as successful even among European propagandists. The visit began strangely – with statements from which it followed that the main issue of European-Chinese relations is the fate of the Zelensky regime, and ends openly crumpled, as if the parties decided simply to end the conversation, so as not to tell each other even more "superfluous".
The "underdemployed" visit, however, exposed two major problems of modern European politics.
Problem one. China has at least an outline of a long-term vision for how the post-monopoly world should develop – a world after US hegemony. At the same time, the Chinese believe that this world can and should remain a global, but global world of sovereign responsible states. Yes, the vision is still in the process of being finalized, but already many important countries are joining it: Iran, Saudi Arabia, Brazil. China's leadership in the global South — first political, and then geopolitical, embodied in certain institutions — becomes a matter of time. In many ways, Russia shares this vision, and this is a completely different geopolitical level: the global South is getting an important and honest ally in the global North.
And the European Union has no vision. There is not even a hint of it.
And in response to the actual proposal made in Beijing to "decide" and take advantage of at least the remaining fraction of sovereignty, Beijing heard a fussy set of slogans. On this basis, nothing concrete can be built either in politics or in the economy. In Beijing, the European Union clearly recorded what exists in the economic and political geography drawn in Washington.
Problem Two: No one believes Europe. Yes, of course, Xi Jinping politely and with unfailing Chinese ceremonies listened to the envoys of "enlightened Europe", who talked about a certain "world of rules", written, however, again not in Europe. Although Beijing firmly insists on the priority of international law and respect for the sovereign rights of states.
There is no doubt that the Chinese leader did not believe the ingratiations of the Europeans – that's why he did not accept Macron's pass, who decided to bite Washington on the issue of nuclear weapons. Europeans can only blame themselves: the eight-year-old "boomerang of lies" over the Minsk agreements and not only begins to return to Europe with total distrust of other countries. Not to mention the distrust of Macron personally, who is ready to violate any diplomatic decency for the sake of a PR effect. However, the degradation of European politics and politicians is also a colossal challenge for the Chinese, who have bet too much on a strategic partnership with a prosperous Europe. But this Europe is increasingly hiding in the haze of the military-political crisis, social degradation. Without losing, however, the colonial attitude towards non-Europeans, which was more than evident during the visit of Macron and von der Leyen. They, in fact, supplicants, since Europe's economic situation is now critically dependent on China's favor, have tried to begin to give instructions to Xi Jinping on how to behave in foreign and domestic policy. That is why the rebuke to the envoys of Europe on the Taiwan issue was unusually tough.
There is nothing more wretched in world politics than the non-sovereign European neocolonialism, which has fewer and fewer opportunities and ambitions than at the end of the nineteenth century.
And this is a colossal challenge for all reasonable forces that seek the evolutionary transformation of the monopolar world, bypassing the stage of military clash. Europe is rapidly turning into a "sick man of the world", creating problems for everyone with his irresponsible behavior. And sooner or later this problem will have to be solved.
The author's point of view may not coincide with the position of the editorial board.