1.媒體來源:
South China Morning Post(南華早報)
2.記者署名:
Finbarr Bermingham(芬巴爾·伯明罕
3.完整新聞標題:
Exclusive |China asks European leaders to meet Xi in November. But will they
accept?
獨家| 中國要求歐洲領導人在11月會見習近平。但他們會接受嗎？
4.完整新聞內文:
===========google翻譯===========
歐洲最高領導人已獲邀於11月在北京會見中國國家主席習近平，但尚未決定是否接受。
據一位熟悉情況的高級消息人士透露，已向
德國總理奧拉夫·蕭茲
法國總統埃馬紐埃爾·馬克龍
義大利總理馬里奧·德拉吉
西班牙總理佩德羅·桑切斯
發出了邀請。
預計日期可能緊隨於10月舉行的第20大之後。
這些訪問將與當月在巴里島舉行的G20領導人峰會相吻合，並將標誌著西歐領導人返回中國
，此前近三年的清零政策阻礙了面對面的中國外交。
巴黎正在就如何處理這一邀請進行“激烈辯論”，但眾所周知，歐洲最強大國家的領導人贊
成與中國就烏克蘭、糧食安全和經濟關係等問題進行對話。
“很難對中國說不，尤其是對習近平說不”
這位外交官補充說，中國外交部長王毅將於9月前往歐洲，當月在紐約舉行的聯合國大會，
在此期間，他“將準備對中國進行這些高級別訪問”。
雖然習近平在2月北京冬奧會開幕式上會見了多位世界領導人，包括俄羅斯和塞爾維亞總統
弗拉基米爾·普京（Vladimir Putin）和亞歷山大·武契奇（Aleksandar Vu?i?），但西方
領導人在很大程度上被迴避了。
去年，有人討論馬克龍與德國前總理安格拉·默克爾（Angela Merkel）一起訪問，默克爾
熱衷於告別一個與她建立了密切聯繫的中國。
中國官員為這次訪問奠定了基礎，但據信，在冠狀病毒協定的重壓下，這次旅行被取消了，
而這些協定對於確保與習近平面對面的時間是必要的。
與此同時，歐盟高級外交官何塞普·博雷爾（Josep Borrell）在4月與歐盟機構領導人舉行
的在線峰會上被描述為“聾啞人的對話”，此前中國被認為無視布魯塞爾?明阻止俄羅斯對
烏克蘭的猛攻的請求。
“因為烏克蘭，與中國交談是很有趣的，這是歐洲的首要任務。糧食安全[將列入議程]，中
國是一個主要的農業大國，歐中關係也不能受制於美中關係，中期選舉將產生影響，“這位
不願透露姓名的高級外交官說。
“所以對我們來說，也許對於每個國家元首來說，我們都想看看中國在那一刻所處的位置。
法國、義大利和西班牙政府沒有回應置評請求。中國政府拒絕置評。
“請理解，我們總是在適當的時間公布總理的行程，通常是前一周，”德國總理府發言人在
被問及邀請時說。
在大流行期間，雙邊關係惡化，新疆涉嫌侵犯人權的重大衝突，香港抗議者的鎮壓以及臺灣
的緊張局勢。
週二的雙邊會談將討論長期存在的經濟不滿，歐盟預計將獲得一系列技術協定，以幫助進一
步向歐洲公司開放中國市場，特別是在農業領域。
但這些會談很難實現。消息人士稱，布魯塞爾的呼籲幾個月來一直沒有得到回應，習近平的
經濟顧問和副總理劉鶴在本月早些時候完成與美國財政部長耶倫的會談後才承諾日期。
自12月張明離任上海合作組織以來，中國駐歐盟大使一直空缺。
從那以後，歐洲官員和外交官每兩周向北京提出這個問題。博雷爾還向王全璋詢問了本月早
些時候在巴厘島舉行的G20外長會議上的空缺。
中國官員回應說，候選人名單「級別如此之高」，預計今年晚些時候舉行20大才能決定。他
們開玩笑地指出，中國已經整整一年沒有大使來結盟朝鮮
了。
外交官們還被告知，北京對歐洲議會對中國日益增長的敵意感到擔憂，最近歐洲議會通過了
一系列決議，嚴厲批評香港和新疆的政策。
特別是，中國官員指出，去年中國對英國立法者的制裁，他們的駐英國大使鄭澤光被禁止進
入該國議會。
“這是一個問題，因為中國希望確保張明的繼任者得到良好的對待，不會像鄭文傑在倫敦那
樣受到羞辱，”
上周，為了反映中歐和東歐與中國接觸的興趣減弱，北京與該地區11個國家舉行了對話。
它標誌著之前的「17 + 1」格式的縮小，立陶宛去年正式退出了該格式，據報導，其他人一
直在考慮放棄。
據一位熟悉該活動的外交消息人士透露，匈牙利表示今年將在布達佩斯主辦一次“紀念部長
級會議”，以紀念16 + 1成立10周年。
新聞原英文稿：
Top European leaders have been invited to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping in
Beijing in November but have yet to decide whether to accept.
Invitations have been sent to German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, French President
Emmanuel Macron, Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi and Spanish Prime Minister
Pedro Sanchez, according to a senior source familiar with the situation.
The proposed date would likely be right after the 20th party congress, expected
to be held in October.
The trips would coincide with the G20 leaders’ summit in Bali that month and
would mark a return to China for Western European leaders, following almost
three years of a zero-Covid policy that has put a block on in-person, in-China
diplomacy.
A “heated debate” is ongoing in Paris on how to deal with the invitation, but
leaders of Europe’s most powerful nations are known to favour dialogue with
China on issues such as Ukraine, food security, and economic relations.
“It is difficult to say no to China, especially to Xi,” said the senior
diplomat.
Wang Yi, China’s foreign minister, will travel to Europe in September on his
way to the United Nations General Assembly in New York that month, during which
he “will be preparing these high-level visits to China”, the diplomat added.
While Xi met multiple world leaders at the launch of the Beijing Winter
Olympics in February, including Russian and Serbian presidents Vladimir Putin
and Aleksandar Vu?i?, Western leaders have been largely shunned.
There were discussions last year about Macron visiting along with former German
Chancellor Angela Merkel, who was keen to bid farewell to a China with which
she had fostered close ties.
Chinese officials laid the groundwork for the trip, but it is thought to have
been cancelled under the weight of the coronavirus protocols that would have
been necessary to secure face time with Xi.
An online summit with EU institution leaders in April, meanwhile, was described
by top EU diplomat Josep Borrell as “a dialogue of the deaf”, after China was
perceived to have ignored Brussels’ pleas to help stop Russia’s onslaught on
Ukraine.
“It’s of interest to speak to China because of Ukraine, which is the number
one priority in Europe. Food security [will be on the agenda], China is a major
agricultural power, and also Europe-China relations cannot be held hostage to
US-China relations, and the midterms would have an impact,” said the unnamed
senior diplomat.
“So for us, probably for every head of state, we want to see where China is
at, at that moment.”
The governments of France, Italy and Spain did not respond to requests for
comment. The Chinese government declined to comment.
“Please understand that we always inform about the chancellor’s travels at
the appropriate time, usually the week before,” a spokeswoman for the German
Chancellery said when asked about the invitation.
Over the course of the pandemic, bilateral ties have deteriorated with major
clashes over alleged human rights abuses in Xinjiang, the crackdown on
protesters in Hong Kong and tension over Taiwan.
Long-standing economic grievances will be discussed during bilateral talks on
Tuesday, where the EU expects to secure a number of technical agreements to
help open the Chinese market further to European firms, particularly in the
agricultural space.
But these talks were painful to secure. Brussels’ calls went unanswered for
months, with Xi’s economic adviser and Vice-Premier Liu He only committing to
a date after he had completed talks with US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen
earlier this month, sources said.
The role of Chinese ambassador to the EU has been vacant since December, when
Zhang Ming departed to lead the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation.
European officials and diplomats have raised the issue with Beijing on a
fortnightly basis ever since. Borrell also asked Wang about the vacancy at the
G20 foreign ministers’ meeting in Bali earlier this month.
Chinese officials have responded that the list of candidates is “so high-level
” that it cannot be decided upon until the 20th National Congress of the
Chinese Communist Party, expected to be held later this year. Tongue-in-cheek,
they point to the fact that China has not had an ambassador to close ally North
Korea for a full year.
Diplomats have also been told that Beijing was concerned by the growing
animosity towards China in the European Parliament, where there has been a
series of resolutions passed recently that criticised policies in Hong Kong and
Xinjiang in stern fashion.
In particular, Chinese officials have pointed to the barring of their
ambassador to the United Kingdom, Zheng Zeguang, from the country’s parliament
over Chinese sanctions on British lawmakers last year.
“That’s a problem because China wants to make sure the successor to Zhang
Ming will be well-treated and not be humiliated like Zheng was in London,” the
senior diplomat said.
Last week, in a reflection of the waning appetite for engagement with China
across Central and Eastern Europe, Beijing hosted a dialogue with 11 countries
from the region.
It marked a slimming down of the previous “17+1” format, which Lithuania
officially exited last year, and which others have reportedly been considering
abandoning.
Hungary offered to host a “commemorative ministerial” in Budapest this year
to mark the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the 16+1, according to a
diplomatic source familiar with the event.
5.完整新聞連結 (或短網址)需放媒體原始連結，不可用轉載媒體連結:
https://reurl.cc/OAx5Rr