The President of the People’s Republic of China, Xi Jinping, received yesterday, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, the head of the Spanish Executive, Pedro Sánchez, as the culmination of his first official visit to the Asian colossus. In his welcoming remarks, Xi, who last week held a meeting in Moscow with Russian President Vladimir Putin, did not expressly refer to the war in Ukraine. Although he did show his willingness to “make contributions to peaceâ€. Sánchez did denounce Putin’s “illegal and unjust war” before the top Chinese leader, while defending the peace plan proposed by the Ukrainian president, VolodÃmir Zelenski, with whom the head of the Spanish government met in Kyiv on 23 September. February.
“This is a time when tensions are building in different corners of the planet. In Europe we are once again experiencing the horrors of an illegal and unjust war and, therefore, it is a time for dialogue and the defense of a rules-based multilateral order,” Sánchez demanded before Xi. “To that end, we must keep communication channels open to build our trust through positive agendas and collaboration on issues that concern us all,†she said. “Nothing replaces direct contacts between the authorities and leaders of the countries. It is very important that, despite the differences, we look for spaces for dialogue and also for agreement, â€he said.
The Spanish president thus advocated respecting “the sovereignty of each country and also the rules.” Sánchez recalled that Xi “knows what the Spanish position is”. “We must continue to bet on peace: that peace must be just, lasting and in accordance with the United Nations charter. And that it respects the principles of the international order: the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the attacked country, as claimed by President Zelenski in his formula for peace, which Spain supportsâ€, he assured. The Spanish president thanked them for the “sincere exchange” they had on “Russia’s aggression against Ukraine.”
Beyond the bilateral relationship, and the relaunch of trade and economic agreements between Spain and China, at the level of global geopolitics, Pedro Sánchez has coordinated his strategy with the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, who in He will also visit Xi Jinping in Beijing shortly, as will the high representative of the European Union, Josep Borrell; the president of France, Emmanuel Macron, or the Italian prime minister, Giorgia Meloni. “It is not feasible, nor is it in the interests of Europe, to disassociate itself from China,†warned Von der Leyen last Thursday, while, however, calling for “eliminating risks†through diplomacy, in the face of the pretense of Beijing to “change the world orderâ€.
Xi Jinping, for his part, conveyed his greetings to King Felipe VI to Sánchez and also opted to relaunch relations with Spain. “Spain has been one of the best countries in the EU’s economic growth,” Xi stressed. “Let’s jointly share the opportunities and face the challenges to push the bilateral development further,” the Chinese leader added.
According to the DPA agency, collecting information from Chinese television, the president defended before Sánchez the need to end the sanctions against Russia and put an end to the “cold war mentality and the confrontation of blocs.” And he called for a more balanced security architecture, referring to NATO.
