The meanings of the French President's visit to China

The French president's visit to China, Macron, appears more than a mere diplomatic exchange, but announces the intention, on both sides, of trying to move a point of importance on the international scene. Certainly the emptiness of power left by the United States facilitates these intentions, but the propulsive will of the two countries pushes to create new world centers of reference. It is no coincidence that one of the major issues that will be dealt with in the bilateral summit will be the environment, a topic that calls for the great attention of world public opinion and that will become more and more a workhorse against the direction taken by the United States of Trump. In fact, beyond the obvious, but necessary, declarations of intent in Beijing and Paris, the environmental problem and its attempts at resolution can become a sort of legitimacy for China to rise to great power, despite the absence of democracy at the interior of its territory, and for France an attempt to get out of its borders and to become accredited for the leadership role of the European Union. Macron on this journey certainly brings forward the French cause, but, concomitantly, with the absence of a government in Germany, he exercises almost a role of substitution of Merkel, in the name of Europe, which unveils its intentions and ambitions. On the agenda of the summit, in addition to economic issues, there are issues of international politics, which go beyond the relationship between the two states: in addition to climate change, in fact, on the agenda is the fight against terrorism and the problem of North Korea. However, from the point of view of international politics, the intention of the two countries to collaborate in Africa on the construction of infrastructures and the commercial development of the black continent seems very relevant. The Chinese activity in Africa has assumed considerable dimensions for the quantity of investments and for the importance of the commitment: Beijing has identified in the African continent the best possibilities for future development, realizing long-term investments and, at the same time, has undertaken an exploitation intensive African raw materials, arousing the suspicion of an almost colonialist practice against poor African countries. France still has interests in Africa, both economic and political, a legacy of colonialism practiced in past centuries. The perception is that Macron tries to fit into Chinese development plans, as a more expert ally in managing conflicts with local authorities and societies, in order to contain the possible causes of obstacles to the Chinese advance. For Beijing, on the one hand, it would be a risk, but on the other hand the opportunity to collaborate with a fully recognized democracy like the French, with which to share the risks of an industrial policy, often invasive, carried out in the countries Africans. The French president in return, in addition to collaboration in Africa, askbe, a rebalancing, at least partial, of the trade balance with China, currently in favor of Beijing in the amount of 30 billion euros. For France, China, however, is the largest trading partner of the Asian continent and greater access of its production in China, perhaps in the luxury sector, given the great growth of Chinese billionaires, could reduce the trade deficit. This visit denotes the will of the French president to play a leading role on the international scene, both from the personal point of view, signaling for his activism that wants to mean the will to become one of the political figures ever more influential, that for the his country, which according to his project, must take on an equal role with Germany in Europe, but also be able to play a single role in the relationship with the greatest powers, exploiting the possibilities that the international conjuncture can offer. It remains to be seen whether this strategy of great commitment on the diplomatic scene is merely a development plan for France or even the will to hide the internal difficulties that Macron is finding in his country. The scheme that foresees a great foreign visibility has often been applied over time by various statesmen to overshadow the internal problems and for a president like the French one, which has enjoyed great electoral success, immediately resized in the liking once installed, it seems in the ideal conditions to use it.