Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at a rare China-France summit outside of Beijing, Russia offering India uninterrupted fuel supplies, and the new U.S. National Security Strategy.
A Meeting in Chengdu
Chinese President Xi Jinping and French President Emmanuel Macron concluded their three-day leaders’ summit on Friday with a rare visit to the southwestern Chinese city of Chengdu. It is unusual for Xi to host a world leader outside of Beijing; even when U.S. President Donald Trump traveled to China during his first term in 2017, Xi kept the meetings confined to the capital. Experts, therefore, suggest that this unorthodox schedule highlights China’s growing efforts to court the European Union.
Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at a rare China-France summit outside of Beijing, Russia offering India uninterrupted fuel supplies, and the new U.S. National Security Strategy.
A Meeting in Chengdu
Chinese President Xi Jinping and French President Emmanuel Macron concluded their three-day leaders’ summit on Friday with a rare visit to the southwestern Chinese city of Chengdu. It is unusual for Xi to host a world leader outside of Beijing; even when U.S. President Donald Trump traveled to China during his first term in 2017, Xi kept the meetings confined to the capital. Experts, therefore, suggest that this unorthodox schedule highlights China’s growing efforts to court the European Union.
The trip itself cemented few policy achievements. On Thursday, the two presidents signed 12 cooperation agreements addressing largely undisputed issues, such as population aging, educational exchanges, and panda conservation. They agreed to deepen economic ties; China already represents 46 percent of France’s total trade deficit. And they found common ground on the war in Gaza; Xi announced that Beijing would provide $100 million to help the territory’s recovery and reconstruction efforts.
Despite few on-paper advancements, this week’s summit gifted both China and France symbolic victories. For Xi, hosting Macron was a way to demonstrate that Beijing is the preferred alternative for countries hoping to diversify their markets to counter Trump’s trade war. Specifically, Xi is hoping to use Paris as an avenue toward expanding Beijing’s influence in the European Union. “China and France should demonstrate their sense of responsibility, raise high the banner of multilateralism, … and firmly stand on the right side of history,” Xi said during the visit.
Notably, though, Xi did not raise the prospect of a China-EU trade deal during Macron’s visit despite Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi discussing the proposal with Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna just last month. Talks over such an investment pact have been stalled since 2021.
Meanwhile, Macron used the summit as an opportunity to project his statesman credentials following a politically turbulent year, which included several no-confidence motions, mass anti-government protestsand rapid premiership turnover. Like Xi, Macron also stressed that China-France relations were vital to countering an increasingly isolationist world order.
“We are facing the risk of the disintegration of the international order that brought peace to the world for decades,” Macron said. “In this context, dialogue between China and France is more essential than ever.”
Yet when faced with one of the world’s biggest crises, Xi and Macron were unable to reach consensus. The French president pushed Xi this week to support a moratorium on Russian strikes targeting critical infrastructure in Ukraine. Xi, however, sidestepped the request, instead saying“China supports all efforts that work towards peace.”
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What We’re Following
To accept or reject Russian oil. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi hoped that by rolling out the red carpet this week for Russian President Vladimir Putin, New Delhi could strengthen its relationship with Moscow. But it appears that Modi may have gotten more than he bargained for.
On Friday, Putin offered India “uninterrupted fuel supplies” after the two leaders were questioned about the impact of U.S. pressure on India to stop buying Russian oil; Trump has accused New Delhi of financing Moscow’s war against Kyiv with its continued purchases of Russian crude. But Modi appeared cautious about Putin’s offer, likely hesitant to upend current U.S.-India talks on a potential trade deal to cut Trump’s punitive tariffs.
During the two-day summit, Modi and Putin also pledged to deepen trade, defense, and other energy cooperation. They set a target of $100 billion in bilateral trade by 2030, agreed to allow a Russian company to build a civilian nuclear power plant in India, and made progress toward New Delhi inking a free trade agreement with the Eurasian Economic Union, which Moscow is a member of.
An America First strategy. The Trump administration released its annual National Security Strategy late Thursday, outlining what experts have described as a dramatic shift in the United States’ ideological priorities. “In everything we do, we are putting America First,” Trump wrote in the report’s introduction.
Among the biggest departures from the post-Cold War order is a renewed focus on the Western Hemisphere, including a “Trump corollary” to the long-divisive 1823 Monroe Doctrine. This coincides with the White House’s recent pressure campaign against Venezuela, during which U.S. forces have launched at least 22 strikes on alleged drug trafficking boats in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific, killing more than 80 people.
Throughout the 33-page document, the Trump administration prioritized U.S. business interests above all else and repeatedly echoed white nationalist rhetoric, such as warning against “civilizational erasure,” declining birth rates, and undocumented immigration. It vowed to step back from democracy promotion in authoritarian regimes but argued that more needed to be done to strengthen Europe’s far-right parties.
Although the strategy described policies that at times contradicted each other, it maintained one overarching through line: The United States will always prioritize itself; the rest of the world, including Washington’s allies, must bow to U.S. interests.
Joining the ranks. German lawmakers approved a controversial military service law on Friday that introduces a new dual-track system aimed at bolstering voluntary recruitment via lucrative incentives, such as better pay and more flexibility. But if enlistment falls short of the Bundeswehr’s ambitious target (bringing active troops from 183,000 to 260,000 over the next decade), then Parliament can activate needs-based conscription.
Germany suspended conscription for men in 2011 and has since struggled to attract voluntary recruits. As the United States puts greater pressure on Europe to take over conventional defense responsibilities and Russian threats against the continent escalate, Berlin is scrambling to meet the new security climate.
Also on Friday, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz narrowly avoided the collapse of his coalition government, securing an absolute majority to pass a pension reform package despite earlier threats from within his own bloc to undermine the vote. The legislation holds the level of state pensions at 48 percent of average wages and will raise pension spending by around $210 billion over the next 15 years. While Merz has portrayed the bill as evidence of his commitment to reviving Berlin’s flagging economy, experts maintain that the precarious vote highlights the chancellor’s weakened position just seven months after taking office.
What in the World?
Officials confirmed on Tuesday that former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández was released from prison in the United States this week following a pardon from Trump. For what crime was Hernández serving 45 years in prison?
A. Financing U.S. gangs to destabilize the southern border
B. Attempting to assassinate his political opponents
C. Stealing $100 million from U.S. investors
D. Protecting drug traffickers moving cocaine
Odds and Ends
Ahead of the winter holiday season, the Italian coastal city of Pesaro is expected to open an ice rink in its central square this weekend. But the festive feature comes amid controversy, as the rink was built around a statue of the late opera singer Luciano Pavarotti. With Pavarotti now trapped up to his knees in the ice, Mayor Andrea Biancini tried to make the best of the situation, encouraging skaters to “give Pavarotti a high five” as they zoom past. But that suggestion was deemed disrespectful by Pavarotti’s widow, forcing Biancini to issue a public apology.
And the Answer Is…
D. Protecting drug traffickers moving cocaine
The move is the latest example of Trump’s chaotic and uncoordinated approach to foreign policy, which seems to follow his own transactional view of human affairs, FP’s Howard W. French writes.
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