By Yew Lun Tian
BEIJING – European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell is to visit Beijing next week to meet his Chinese counterpart and discuss “strategic issues” including human rights and Russia’s war in Ukraine, the EU’s ambassador to Beijing said.
Borrell will arrive on July 10 and meet Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang, ambassador Jorge Toledo told the World Peace Forum in Beijing on Sunday, according to an audio recording distributed by organisers on Tuesday.
The trip comes as Europe seeks to reduce the risks created by its close economic relationship with China, a country Brussels has dubbed an “economic competitor and a systemic rival”.
It will follow a visit by EU climate chief Frans Timmermans, who is in Beijing this week for talks on climate, biodiversity and environmental protection. Both had postponed a visit to China in April after testing positive for COVID-19.
In the comments Toledo said the two sides are likely to hold two in-person dialogues in September, one on economy and trade and another on digital matters, before a leaders’ summit at the end of the year.
“We want to engage with China but we need progress and we need it this year,” he said.
Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning told reporters on Tuesday she has no information about Borrell’s visit.
(Reporting by Yew Lun Tian; Additional Reporting by Martin Quin Pollard; Editing by Conor Humphries)
