EDITORIAL
Emmanuel Macron begins a three-day state trip to China. First stop, Shanghai and a trade show with some contracts at the key. Then Beijing to talk about climate change and biodiversity. A more complicated visit, analyzes our editorialist Vincent Hervouët.
"The problem for the French is that the Chinese still consider them for what they weigh, that is to say one twentieth of the Chinese population, one fifth of its GDP.This is a little more than three grains but not enough to talk on equal terms, so we call to the rescue 'Charles De Gaulle-who-recognized-the-first-the-People's Republic.
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We also speak on behalf of Europe. But the Chinese know well that France represents one country out of 27 in the Union, that Berlin is their supplier, that London is their banker and Rome henceforth their stopover on the road of silk. Official visits never fail but Emmanuel Macron will have trouble being heard.
China wants to gain influence in art and culture
With Xi Jinping tomorrow, they must talk about climate change and celebrate multilateralism. That means they will say bad things about Donald Trump together. The Emperor of China misses no opportunity to divide the Westerners.
It is with the inauguration of an annex of the Pompidou Center in Shanghai that France marks a point. China does not want to impose its way of life, its language and its entertainment industry like the Americans. But she wants to gain influence in the fields of art and culture. This is exactly what France has to offer. And this is how it exports Pompidou to Asia after selling bits of the Louvre or the Sorbonne leased to the Arabs.