In the middle of a trade war with the United States, China is looking for new friends. It could be French President Emmanuel Macron, who begins Monday, November 4 a three-day visit to Shanghai and Beijing. "Among friends, we always offer the best, especially to a friend who comes from far away, we must offer him the warmest and friendliest welcome," said a senior official of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Zhu Jing, paraphrasing Confucius. This is the second visit to China of the French president since the beginning of his term.

Quarantine of commercial contracts

Upon his arrival on Monday, the French president was to attend a gala dinner with the other world leaders invited to the inauguration of the second Shanghai Import Fair, an annual meeting established by the communist regime to convince of its intention to open its market.

Forty contracts should be signed, particularly in the fields of aeronautics, energy and agribusiness. France hopes to rebalance trade agreements with China, which exports to France much more than any French products. The gap between the two countries is close to 30 billion euros.

"Hong Kong and Xinjiang are China's domestic affairs"

But to treat his relationship with the Asian giant has a price: no question of denouncing loudly the situation in Hong Kong, warned Beijing. "Hong Kong and Xinjiang are China's domestic affairs, it is irrelevant whether it is on the diplomatic agenda," Chinese diplomacy warned.

For its part, the Elysee assured that Emmanuel Macron would address "without taboos" the human rights issues as well as the situation in Hong Kong and in the Muslim majority region of Xinjiang.

Human Rights Watch has called on Emmanuel Macron to press his counterpart "for the closure of political education camps" in Xinjiang, where Beijing holds more than one million Uighurs, a ethnic group suspected of Islamist and separatist tendencies.

The Europeans, new allies of China?

For sinologist Jean-Pierre Cabestan, of the Baptist University of Hong Kong, there is no doubt that the American offensive pushes the Chinese to move closer to France, but also to Germany and the United Kingdom. However, "the Europeans would be naive to believe that they can ally with China against Trump," he warns.

"China remains a problem for the WTO, a destabilizing factor in the South China Sea, a threat to Taiwan and an authoritarian pole against Hong Kong and our democratic values," said the author of "Tomorrow China , democracy or dictatorship? " (Gallimard edition).

The French and Chinese navies were beset by a naval incident last spring in the Taiwan Strait.

In Shanghai, a giant metropolis of 24 million inhabitants, the French president will inaugurate Tuesday the new Pompidou Center.

He will be in Beijing on Wednesday for further talks with Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Li Keqiang. Forty contracts must be signed on this occasion.

With AFP