China and Spain on Tuesday vowed to strengthen bilateral ties and uphold global peace and development, as President Xi Jinping warned of a “crumbling” global order during talks with Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez in Beijing.
This is his fourth visit to China in as many years highlighting his push for an independent foreign policy that has irked Donald Trump.
Sanchez’s approach is popular with voters, but has unnerved firms and opposition politicians who fear that friction with the U.S. administration could be costly for Spain.
Strategic Balancing
The visit by Sanchez comes as many Western governments are seeking to maintain ties with Beijing despite lingering security and trade tension, as discomfort grows over the policies of key ally, U.S. President Donald Trump.
In “today’s world, chaos abounds, and the international order is crumbling,” Xi said, adding that deeper ties were in the interests of both China and Spain.
Multilateralism in Focus
He urged stronger communication and trust to “uphold the rule of law, jointly defend genuine multilateralism, and safeguard global peace and development”.
Sanchez said international law was repeatedly being undermined, and called for closer ties to promote peace and prosperity.
“It is more necessary today than ever, and so that together we can establish an even stronger bond between China and the European Union,” Sanchez said.
The latest of his counterparts from Britain, Canada, Finland and Ireland to visit China this year, Sanchez has urged the world’s second biggest economy to take a larger role on issues.
These ranged from climate change to security, defence and the fight against inequality, he said on Monday, calling for Europe to redouble its efforts as the United States has decided to withdraw from many of these fronts.
Spain has been one of Europe’s loudest proponents of expanding trade and treating China as a strategic ally, rather than the economic and geopolitical rival seen by Trump.
(With inputs from Reuters)
