China cancels visit from top European official, offers no explanation as relations grow tense

Beijing has canceled a visit from a top European diplomat amid ongoing disagreements on a range of issues, marking a potential step backward in relations. 

“Unfortunately, we were informed by the Chinese counterparts that the envisaged dates next week are no longer possible and we must now look for alternatives,” EU spokesperson Nabila Massrali said in an emailed statement on Wednesday.

“It is for China to communicate on the reasons,” she added. “We will adapt and find together a new date.”

Europe’s top representative for foreign affairs and security policy, Josep Borrell, intended to visit China starting July 10 for talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang and other officials, aiming to discuss trade, human rights and China’s stance on the war in Ukraine. 

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Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said, “China attaches high importance to Sino-European relations and has maintained exchanges with Europe at all levels and in various aspects.”

“We welcome Representative Borrell to visit China as soon as possible at the convenience of both sides, and we are ready to carry on exchanges with the European side,” he added, regarding the matter. 

Further talks are set to occur later this year, with two meetings in September to address economy, trade and digital matters ahead of an end-of-year leaders’ summit. 

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“We want to engage with China, but we need progress, and we need it this year,” Europe’s Ambassador to China Jorge Toledo said earlier this week ahead of the cancellation. 

A European Union (EU) member summit last week declared the bloc’s intention to start sourcing materials from areas outside of China, despite assurances that it did not want to “decouple” from the world’s second-largest economy. 

The summit also asked Beijing to try and pressure Russia to end its invasion of Ukraine “immediately, completely and unconditionally,” following similar pleas from European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and French President Emmanuel Macron earlier this year. 

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China has said it wants to broker peace in Ukraine, but its position paper released in February was met with lukewarm responses by both Russia and Ukraine.

China and the EU appeared to find more common ground during a high-level climate dialogue in Beijing on Monday between China’s climate envoy Xie Zhenhua and the EU’s top climate official, Frans Timmermans. It was the first in-person bilateral meeting on climate change and the environment between the two sides since the start of the pandemic. 

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.