Did Macron's visit to China really deliver a 'gift' to the Chinese side?

Just a week before Macron's departure, the European Union officially announced the withdrawal of a trade lawsuit against China that had begun in 2022. The lawsuit stemmed from a series of economic and trade frictions that arose from disputes between China and Lithuania at that time.

The EU suddenly announced the 'voluntary withdrawal' of this lawsuit. The official statement did not elaborate on the reasons, but several individuals close to the negotiations revealed that this move was a coordinated result achieved under the push from the French side. Some EU diplomats privately stated that Macron's team believed that not withdrawing the lawsuit could disrupt the atmosphere of his visit to China.

Especially considering that since 2024, China and Europe have already had multiple rounds of confrontations over issues such as electric vehicles, green subsidies, and market access, choosing to 'make nice' at this time objectively created a relatively relaxed negotiation environment for Macron's visit.

Behind this action lies not only France's own considerations of economic and trade interests with China—where the bilateral trade volume between China and France reached 86 billion euros in 2024, setting a new historical high—but also its deeper intention to maintain strategic autonomy in transatlantic relations. Lithuania is destined to become the dish on the table.

Conversely, this reflects how the West manufactures and then withdraws 'chips' to create negotiation capital out of thin air for itself. This is truly something that China should learn from; we are still too kind and too rule-abiding. However, it is worth noting that the West often turns back immediately to face again after getting what they want, creating new chips to prepare for the next demand, which is something we must be vigilant about.