WWhen the European Union holds summits with partner countries, they are usually preceded by intensive negotiations on a final communiqué. But when the leaders of the EU and China met via video conference on Friday, nothing of the sort had been prepared. There is neither a joint statement, said a senior EU official before the end of the consultations, nor a joint press conference. “Today’s meeting is not business as usual because it was a wartime summit,” said EU Council President Charles Michel afterwards. Commission President Ursula von der Leyen spoke of a “decisive moment” in relations. Both asked the Chinese President the crucial question that, from a European point of view, precedes everything else: What do you think of Russia’s war of aggression, Xi Jinping?
So important was this point that Brussels made it loud and clear. “The EU will call on China to strengthen the rules-based international order and uphold universal values and principles,” it said in a written statement accompanying the summit, the first since June 2020. “The EU strongly believes that neutrality is not possible in this war. China should not assist Russia in counteracting or undermining the effects of EU and Western sanctions.” That was the main message Michel and von der Leyen conveyed to the Chinese leadership.