Sawt Falasteen - Macron hosts Xi in French mountains to press messages on Ukraine, trade

The first day of Xi's state visit to France, his first to Europe since 2019, saw respectful but sometimes robust exchanges between the two men during a succession of talks on Monday.

Macron, joined initially by EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, urged Xi not to allow the export of any technology that could be used by Russia in its invasion of Ukraine and asked Beijing to do all it could to end the war.

Xi for his part warned the West not to "smear" China over the conflict and also hit back at accusations that Chinese overcapacity was causing global trade imbalances.

The fresh mountain air at the village of Bagnere-de-Bigorre and the adjacent resort of La Mongie, as well as lunch accompanied by their wives Peng Liyuan and Brigitte Macron, will allow Xi and Macron to explore these issues in relative intimacy.

While born and brought up in the north of France, the young "Manu" spent numerous winter and summer holidays with his late maternal grandparents in the area just below the Col du Tourmalet, over 2,000 metres (6,560 feet) above sea level and a legendary climb in the Tour de France.

Xi is expected to dine on local lamb, cheeses and wines in an environment the president hopes will help the pair get to the heart of the most pressing issues.

Hours after hosting a lavish state banquet for Xi in Paris Monday night, Macron personally welcomed Xi on arrival at Tarbes airport in in southwest France.

"Emmanuel Macron's diplomacy has always relied, perhaps excessively, on the power of seduction," said Bertrand Badie, specialist in international relations at Sciences Po university, warning that Xi was not known for "sentimentality".

- 'Count on China' -

Europe is concerned that while officially neutral over the Ukraine conflict, Beijing is essentially backing Russia, which is using Chinese machine tools in arms production.

The other two countries chosen by Xi for his European tour after France -- Serbia and Hungary -- are seen as among the most sympathetic to Moscow in Europe.

"More effort is needed to curtail delivery of dual-use goods to Russia that find their way to the battlefield," von der Leyen said after the trilateral talks, adding that "this does affect EU-China relations".

After a bilateral meeting with Xi, Macron welcomed China's "commitments" not to supply arms to Russia, while also expressing concern over possible deliveries of dual-use technology.

He thanked Xi for backing his idea of a truce in all conflicts including Ukraine during the Paris Olympics this summer and pointedly added: "We do not have an approach seeking regime change in Moscow."

Defending China's stance, Xi warned against using the Ukraine crisis "to cast blame, smear a third country and incite a new Cold War."

The Chinese president, who is due to host Putin in China later this month, said that "we are not watching the fire from the sidelines, we have always been playing a positive role in achieving peace."

- 'Flooding European market' -

Both Macron and von der Leyen have indicated that trade was a priority in the talks, underscoring that Europe must defend its "strategic interests" in its economic relations with China amid fears of a trade war.

Von der Leyen said there were "imbalances that remain significant" and "a matter of great concern", singling out Chinese subsidies for electric cars and steel that were "flooding the European market".

At the talks, Xi denied there was any problem of Chinese overcapacity in global trade and said China and Europe should address differences on trade through "dialogue and consultation, and accommodate each other's legitimate concerns", according to the foreign ministry.

Macron thanked Xi for not imposing "provisional" customs duties on French cognac amid an ongoing anti-dumping investigation, and presented him with bottles of the expensive drink.

Rights groups and political opponents have railed at the red carpet welcome for Xi, accusing Macron of turning a blind eye to abuses including repression of the Uyghur minority while placing too much emphasis on his counterpart's pledges.

The socialist candidate for the European elections in June, Raphael Glucksmann, denounced the "friendly tone" of the visit, saying on RTL television that "the man who deports the Uyghurs, represses the people of Hong Kong and the Tibetans is not our friend."

D.Khalil--SF-PST