bombarded the region government forces are advancing on the rebel held territory forcing thousands of civilians to flee towards the turkish border and turkey is to extend its state of emergency for a further three months it was jus to expire on january the nineteenth it's the sixth time it's been extended the emergency was imposed after a failed coup attempt a july twenty sixth two thousand the people suspected of involvement have since been arrested many of them from the government and the military french president about our back row has vowed to reviewers partnership with china into the twenty first century in his first state visit to the country for met chinese president xi jinping good beijing after starting his trip in the asian capital of ch'an he wants china or the e.u. to work together to share the benefits of increased trade and find ways to meet the challenge of global warming. and hundreds of nigeria by constructed in libya have returned home the government has ordered the immediate evacuation of about five and a half thousand of its citizens from libya those are the headlines of the back with

more use in thirty minutes next on al-jazeera it's inside story do stay with us. building bridges between china and france and backing the new silk road between continents the french president is on a three day visit with trade talking his chinese agenda what do the potential deals mean for both asia and the world this is inside story.

hello that and welcome to the program i'm laura carlisle it's being described as a new stage and french diplomacy as well as potential trade deals being signed president emanuel mccraw is on his first official visit to china economic issues of the focus of a three day trip as well as north korean nuclear missiles climate change and investments in africa we'll look at those issues in just a moment mccaughan has been speaking in the ancient city of sea on. you know. it is and it's up to europe in asia to france and china to define and come up with the rules of a game we could all win or lose i have come here to tell china that i am determined to move the euro china partnership into the twenty first century so that it fits in this new framework that we need to define together europe will embrace this new strategy because it is now aware of its role and its place in this century it will get involved on all of the main topics yes my friends what i have also come here to

say is that europe is back some of the issues on mccall's agenda climate change with president donald trump announcing the u.s. is pulling out of the paris climate accord it's a key topic for cooperation between both countries also was described as the new silk road map kwan is backing president sees trillion dollar projects the one belt one road and they should if aims to extend china's reach across asia and beyond by using a network of new railways ports and other infrastructure america wants to strengthen the french partnership with china particularly in africa back on says france has the experience of unilateral imperialism in africa and wants to help china avoid what he calls france's african mistakes finally china and france are both nuclear powers and veto wielding permanent members of the un security council so they have much to talk on north korea as well as the war in syria and the israeli palestinian conflict so plenty to talk about as well with our panel let's bring them in in

beijing china tangan an advisor on economic affairs to the chinese government and singapore graham a web research fellow at nanyang technological university and in little france possibly comal director of research at the french institute for international and strategic affairs welcome all of you i know an awful lot is on the agenda here to get through in three days but what's the key thing that china is wanting from from . well it's a very vocal proponents of the belton road initiative this is really something that ping has been looking for with germany right now in trenton not transition but trying to figure out its government having macron step up as a proponent of globalization wedded to the climate change agenda this is exactly what they've been looking for ok so but tell me back on his given the support for

the one belt one road an initiative what is it that france now wants in return for what is interesting is that michael addressed this issue that's thirty had his first speech on the iraqis i think we have to keep in mind that the choice of sarah is still a significant very symbolic for the chinese and this is where desir groves in its historical. purpose of course used to start so it is a very important to look asian to address the importance of the you see it roads and the. we shall we in law france to join in to do something about it that we've been expecting a lot from you see shoes since he was elected and this is clearly discussed and it does the dress is the desire to cooperate more with china on this issue and trying to define together what is exactly the opposite to but also the intentions

of china when it comes to the sick was ok and what the key thing key takeaway that it wants to do that back home wants to take back to paris from this chinese as it. well not home address also a very important issue for france at the moment which is research of more moved to last for all. like. gesture end of world affair france has been since michael's election very willing to separate a little bit from what we call the atlanticist posture a posture very linked to the united states notably under the obama administration and of course that action of the trump in u.s. so they changed but the star of the game as well as the brits it's in the united kingdom and michael has repeatedly mention his intention to adopt the more we call it in france the more go east media and bitter indian posture that refers of course to the late president charles de gaulle and also a day off and this posture is based on the more independence research.

implications of great powers not constantly to our i don't think allies and much whole addressed again this particular message during the speech and which is very interesting so he called china for a bigger involvement in world affairs but also a bigger cotner ship on will issues such as terrorism such as syria such as north korea such as of course also global warming graham we've got two leaders hit with very big ambitions with the u.s. and retrieve it says to me just mention is global dominance on their minds. clearly i mean global dominance is. a theme that it's const continually discussed in light of the shake up that we've seen in global politics over the last twelve months in the least and whoever is going to step up to the fore is you know will

want to come up with the reentrant that will benefit not just themselves by the international community taking taking into account how highly integrated the global economy really years and i think this is part of the of the messaging that i will see and for in the discussions over the next few days that china is being reminded not to just look at itself but to look at the rest the world and how what it does has huge impact across the pacific region and the rest of the world and i think this is a very welcome moment. in terms of this of this meeting in having china being invited if you like to to step forward and plea a constructive role as possible that can benefit everyone and one area where we can particularly see this is africa i know we've got france warning china not to make the same mistakes it did on that continent during colonial times is this

a message that china here's and will respond to. well it i don't know how they'll officially respond to it but having a willing partner on both sides is very very important china obviously has the money they have a vision for the belton road initiative and france is very connected to its former colonial empire and it wants to maintain those ties but it doesn't necessarily have the wherewithal to put in the kind of infrastructure and investment that is needed so forming a partnership seems very very logical it's a win win situation it's not the zero sum game that you have in trump's view of the world but in terms of what france what china sees france as one is they want to willing partner in africa which we just discussed they're also looking for some bolstering its not only that macro is talking about doing more with china he wants

the e.u. to play a more central role and with china recognizing his. let us say gravitas at this stage it will help him as he goes back to the e.u. and says listen we either adopt the view protectionist view of the united states and we retreat and give up the values that we've had through globalization or we go forward and we forge something much more clear with china so i would disagree that this is somehow taking china to task or inviting them this is a multi-polar world and i think china recognizes that and that's why there's going to be quite a bit of give and take ok of because to the chinese see matt kong as the new lead to of europe with of course breaks it taking the u.k. out of the picture a little bit send merkel focused on domestic a fats. well i don't necessarily know that they see here is the sole leader they see it for what

it is he cannot do anything without germany so therefore there's going to have to be consensus but he's the first mover as merkel as you said is you know confined to figuring out how her government is going to look if she can put it together he's the one who stepped forward and i think that will be to his advantage and we'll see that in the number of deals that he's able to bring to the table and take back to france ok but tell me it's not all roses and light isn't it because we've also had macron calling for a stronger europe to quote face china and the u.s. should beijing fail a little bit threatened. i don't think it even figuring it frightened about that but i totally agree with what has been say regarding be important in the coffee to china and i think that my core knowledge is that but also sitting in the knowledge is that and for the chinese leaders at the moment is perceived as what we

may call the head of your call the c n n if we may put forward to it michael is in a position that you know you were in the to. get i mean he's facing some don't mistake problems and she doesn't have the same attributes of power that you have mentioned earlier see that u.n. security council nuclear power and the capacity to sit and forces approach but these are the tributes that france has u.k. also does but has we know that the u.k. is a little bit out at the moment so in the eyes of the chinese france is playing a more significant role not only in world affairs but especially in shaping. some sort of european defense and foreign policy and michael is incarnating it so therefore is physically it's not just about french chinese relations it's. far more important than ambition is that it's about don't you see across we have mentioned

it's also about china relations and its future so that's why this visit is i think far more important than on gas miracle last trip to beijing francis ok. if we are saying a partnership forged between c. and mack on graham how different are they in their views when it comes to global governance i mean how are these men going to get on and work together what. well coming back to my point about the invitation this is exactly it i think mark is clearly aware that at this moment in global affairs the last thing you want to do is to it's to push china away at a time when a lot of middle and major powers are on the retreat or the perception that is an ongoing retreat and to have china come into this conversation and to play its part and presumably also perhaps to be more open to china's ways of the wings of the of of global conduct as well i think this is going to be

a two way conversation and i think the allusion is quite clear even in terms of. reference to the silk road being a a two way street essentially not just in physical terms but in conversational terms as well for for for china to be more open to to the ways of established global governance and regulatory undertakings and vice versa for for for the e.u. and other economic blocs to be open to china's own way of doing things things as well i think this is the kind of partnership we're going to see going forward and not just in terms of just china and france and i think all of these point i think this is a much larger conversation about is are and europe as well as both blocs work more closely together in sort of a win win arrangement because each one has the has something the other lacks the you has has a pile of experience. resources and of course there are markets abound in

asia to be to be tapped into on the asian side of the house so i think this is going to be. a win win situation as i mentioned ok just to follow on that similar vein of thoughts with most western leaders when they go to china pressured to hold china to account for its human rights records will we see macron doing that with china or is that going to be pushed to the sides in favor of this new partnership. well actually we'll never know because he is office has already announced that any kind of talk about human rights will be in private and so there will be no report on it in terms of how micron is looking at this i mean he's in a difficult position you know this book fire and fury coming out as this meeting comes about the world is facing very very strong questions about what exactly the

u.s. direction is and what is trump's role in it so you find yourself with very very few partners the e.u. needs markets china is a massive market he's trying to figure out how to do it look for him to be pressing on issues like opening up finance services for chinese but for french banks in china they already have the first one a license was granted to a french bank to start operating in china i think you'll see this being pushed this has been carefully orchestrated and been in the works for a long time but this was the latest revolution from this book even if only fifty percent were true is quite disturbing and will obviously give pause to both sides as they try to figure out what shape the world they want should be ok we have one key issue facing the entire well it is global warming we know that mark was positioned himself to be the lead to take forward the paris accords especially off

to donald trump announcing that the u.s. will pull out of that. tell me how keen is he to get china's we need commitment to those agreements. well the problem with china when it comes to facing global warming is the gap between the intentions and the reality and we expect some significant moves from china and of course any move will be welcome considering the importance of china on on such issues so much coal is bringing a message which is partly we need you we need china on this particular topic and we are therefore somehow following what are your intentions and we are looking at how you transform it into some sort of reality so that's that's a very important issue but on top of that i would like to come back to what matters a little bit when it comes to the perceptions between the two countries and more broadly europeans on one side and the chinese on the other there are some fields in

europe you know where they say regarding that china's intentions china's power and of course the nature of chinese region and therefore michael must address issues in general of course talk clearly about human rights because we know that he will face of critics and we know that and for that yes when you come to. us it already did that it's in these patients here on the mention the five that syria the new silk road initiative sciences is subject to a lot of attention but also a lot of questions in the world and especially in europe and therefore china isn't fighting to clarify its intentions that i think is extremely important clarification of china on global warming on the new silk road but also more generally on its involvement in world affairs this is really what no one expects

from these exchanges with the transceivers over the next few days and graham i can see you nodding your head then you agree then that china does need to be more transparent. yes very much saw and it takes a highly respected major power like france to tell china that and for china to listen deliberate on their own that point and to make a response and i think we this is very welcome in asia pacific because it's not just france or the rest of the e.u. or the rest of the world really that's concerned about about the future of china but very much much much so here in our backyard in the asia pacific in southeast asia we have very similar questions as a lot of hope about what china can do in terms of raising lifting all boats in the region if you like but there's also a lot of questions about china's strategic intentions especially with the protracted issue of the south china sea dispute which is still still ongoing even though it's a slow burn issue and with with france in the picture it's actually

a very welcome despite because france is lifting the conversation up you know holding china to account if you like in a sense saying that there are certain rules of the game that one ought to abide by and you would be more respected for it and this is part of an ongoing approach which i think is extremely constructive about socializing and in gauging china at a time when we have you know the current u.s. administration of the previous u.s. administration containing china which is extremely unhelpful you know we haven't heard from president see as of monday evening when recording this program during this visit from macron but i know do you think we're going to see him giving some indications that china will be open and transparent and show its intentions that it's going to react well to any french pressure on this matter.

well quite frankly the days when colonial powers can lecture china i think are over and i would respectfully disagree with my colleagues on that particular issue china is the one who is spending the most on environmental protection they're the ones who have said to their provincial and city leaders your environmental record will follow you for the rest of your life they've criminalized it i don't know how much more you could do to show that you're very serious about tackling pollution it was one of the. going to about other issues like this. and its intentions in africa a lot about those issues those are very important issues and yet to be decided how the partnership could work in africa it's going to center around this this issue of fighting terrorism in terms of the silk road china cannot do this alone the one trillion dollar number is far short of what is needed china has

taken a very bold step and said we will be the first but they need other countries and to that extent yes they're looking for partners they're not looking to dictate they're trying to set an example of the new world order which is not about one country dominating other countries but simply working together for the collective good in other words globalization two point zero ok so but tell me how far then can this relationship go if china is not willing to play by and evils that might call might want to. i think it's in china's interest to play the world i haven't seen in the city things phosphorus since he became the leader of china any sign of protectionism more will to be more. seeking some sort of isolation china is more and more engaged in a lot of futures and i do agree with china's a force of. global warming issues i mean china is indeed doing

a lot of that force but we also know that china must do a lot of it for it so that's why we are of course paying a lot of attention to the results but anyway yes china i believe is carefully listening to the advices but also to the possibilities for ships with partners like france and i i believe that for the chinese it is it is extremely important he was shapes somehow the relation between the e.u. and china that unfortunately has been a little bit. shaking in the past they said to the kates so this is something very important to be grilled is stationary considering the international context that we have all of us described in detail and in in this purpose i believe that my close visit and the timing of these visits is consider in china has some sort of supporting it to show what i think or

a new face for the international community a face of a country more willing to cooperate in the disobey to the age itself also ok just lastly matt mccall has pledged to visit china every year of his presidency i mean that's a pretty big then isn't it that this is a relationship that we're going to want to keep an eye on. certainly and i think micron has clearly understands the importance of saying that and following through with that going forward the issue of feasts is a very important principle of concept in culture and you know the more face to face meetings the better and on a regular basis of that and i think china is going be is very welcoming of that of that overture and it's only going to cement relations between these pop two powers going forward and it's going to really consolidate a new bridge at a time when the so much fluidity going on in terms of the power politics of the

global system ok well keep an eye on it we certainly will many thanks to all our guests for joining us here today i know tangan there in beijing graeme on webb in singapore and a bottle of equal in. and thank you two very much for watching you can see the program again any time by visiting our website that's al-jazeera dot com and for further discussion do go and visit our facebook page that facebook dot com for slash a.j. inside story you can also join the conversation on twitter our handle is at a.j. inside story from me laura kyle and the whole team here it's by phone now.

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