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China Urges France to Help on Tech Amid ‘Adverse Currents’
(Bloomberg) -- China’s top diplomat called on France to boost cooperation on tech issues and trade in the face of “adverse currents,” a sign of the Asian nation’s efforts to counter a US-led effort to curb its chip ambitions.
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Wang Yi told French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna in a meeting in Paris on Wednesday the two nations should continue their “tradition of independence and self-determination.”
“In the face of adverse currents in globalization and the decoupling and disconnection of individual countries, China and France should continue to practice multilateralism, safeguard free trade, and strengthen international scientific and technological cooperation,” Wang added, according to the official Xinhua News Agency.
Both nations said the war in Ukraine was discussed, and the French Foreign Ministry said Colonna called on Wang to “intensify pressure on Russia to allow for the return to respect of fundamental UN Charter principles.”
The comments on tech and trade underscore the efforts Beijing is making to counter an agreement reached by the US, the Netherlands and Japan last month to restrict exports of some advanced chipmaking machinery to China, partly to curtail military advancement. Shortly after that deal was reached, Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang told Dutch counterpart Wopke Hoekstra that his nation wanted to keep supply chains and trade open.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has also sought trade assurances from US ally and major chip producer, South Korea. In the first summit between the neighbors in three years, Xi told President Yoon Suk Yeol in November that he wanted to boost cooperation in high-tech manufacturing.
Also in November, French President Emmanuel Macron called for engagement with Beijing and resisting efforts to divide the world into competing blocs, a victory for Xi in his confrontation with the US.
Read: Biden Wins Deal With Dutch, Japan on China Chip Export Curbs
In a meeting with Macron on Wednesday, Wang said “China always regards France as a priority partner of cooperation” and would be open to advancing ties in a range of areas.
Wang, who holds the top foreign policy position in China’s ruling Communist Party, is on a tour of Europe that will also take him to Germany this week. That sets up the possibility he may meet US Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the Munich Security Conference for the first time since the US shot down what it said was a Chinese spy balloon. The Biden administration also sanctioned six companies over what it said were links to Beijing’s espionage program.
Blinken postponed a trip to Beijing over the saga.
China has said the US “overreacted” to what it called a civilian device collecting weather data that was blown off course. On Wednesday, the Foreign Ministry in Beijing warned it “will take countermeasures against relevant US entities that have undermined our sovereignty and security.”
More: ASML Data Stolen From Technical Repository for Chip Machines
During the trip to Europe, Wang is likely to face questions about claims by ASML Holding NV that a former worker in China had stolen confidential information.
The breach occurred in a repository that includes details of the lithography systems critical to producing some of the world’s most advanced chips, people with knowledge of the situation said.
--With assistance from Samy Adghirni.
(Updates with comments from French Foreign Ministry.)
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