Noises about Taiwan in China and Europe

Here’s what else you need to know about China today:

Top story: Brazil’s President Lula is on a state visit to China. But navigating the relationship with his country’s largest trading partner will likely be more difficult in the decade since he last held office. Click through for the whole thing.

Europe is in turmoil over French President Emmanuel Macron’s dealings with China. Right on the heels of his three-day “love-fest” in China, Macron made inflammatory comments in an interview with POLITICO, saying that Europe was becoming “America’s followers” on its approach to China, including the Taiwan issue. “The worst thing would be to think that we Europeans must…adapt to the American rhythm or a Chinese overreaction,” he said, fueling concern that his position will undermine the EU’s stance on Beijing.

But Macron insisted that his Taiwan policy remains unchanged, as tensions continue to rise in the Taiwan Strait between China and the West. “The position of France and the Europeans on Taiwan is the same…It’s the policy of one China and the peaceful settlement of the question,” he said yesterday while on a state visit to the Netherlands. His words did little to quell the reception from his audience, which ranged from chilly to downright hostile: Angry protesters, who have been chafing at Macron’s controversial pension overhaul, heckled the French leader at a theater in The Hague.

Meanwhile, Germany is doing damage control to ease the international backlash over Macron’s remarks. The country’s foreign minister, Annalena Baerbock, appealed for a deescalation in the Taiwan Strait and is heading back to Beijing for a two-day trip to reassert a unified European Union policy.

Xi reiterated his calls to modernize China’s military during his inspection on Tuesday of the People’s Liberation Army’s Southern Theatre Command navy, whose primary missions are to maintain security in the South China Sea and likely support its sister Eastern Theatre Command in any moves against Taiwan.

Beijing also released new recruitment rules for soldiers in wartime to list veterans as a priority in an effort to build stronger armed forces. The amended regulations, which will go into effect on May 1, are the first time Beijing has specified a separate chapter on wartime recruitment amid fraught geopolitical tensions.

Cosco Shipping reported that its net profit slumped by 74.29% year-on-year to 8.37 billion yuan ($1.21 billion) in the first quarter, its first net loss since 2020, due to low freight rates. In 2022, Cosco reported a record net profit of 109.59 billion yuan ($15.92 billion), making it one of China’s 10 most profitable companies. In related news today, Germany is reviewing its decision to allow Cosco to take a 24.9% stake in a logistics terminal at the Hamburg port for which it received approval from the German government in October 2022.

Chinese civil aviation is close to recovering to pre-COVID levels: According to data from Flight Master, there were 1.062 million civil aviation passenger flights in the first quarter, amounted to sorties, an increase of 42.4% year-on-year and 82.5% of the level of 2019. The number of passengers amounted to nearly 130 million, an increase of 68.9% year-on-year, and 80% of the level of 2019.