As tariff pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump and his push to incorporate Greenland widen the rift between the United States and the European Union (EU), Western leaders are making back-to-back trips to China. Following France late last year, leaders of Ireland, Canada and Finland visited China this month to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping, and the British and German prime ministers are set to visit China with economic delegations. As Europe faces continued security and trade pressure from its ally the United States, it appears to be widening its room to maneuver toward China, Washington's biggest competitor, to cope with U.S.-driven uncertainty.
According to China's state-run Xinhua News Agency on the 27th, Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo, who arrived in China on the 25th for a four-day trip, met Chinese President Xi Jinping on the afternoon of the day at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.
At the summit, Xi said, "The world is facing multiple risks and challenges," and added, "China is willing to firmly safeguard the international system with the United Nations at its core and the order based on international law together with Finland, jointly respond to global challenges, and promote a more equal and orderly multipolar world and economic globalization that is universally beneficial and inclusive."
Xi also proposed that Finnish corporations proactively enter the Chinese market. Xi said, "China will continue to promote high-quality development and expand high-level opening up. We welcome Finnish corporations to come to the 'vast ocean' of the Chinese market and swim freely to enhance their global competitiveness," mentioning areas such as energy transition, circular economy, agriculture and forestry industries, and science and technology. He stressed, "China and Europe are partners, not competitors."
Orpo responded, "Finnish corporations are very interested in cooperation with China," and said, "We want to tighten high-level exchanges to deepen practical cooperation in trade, investment, the digital economy, clean energy and agriculture, and improve the well-being of the peoples of both countries." He added, "We hope to strengthen communication and coordination with China to jointly safeguard world peace and stability." He also signaled respect for the "one China" principle.
More than 20 Finnish corporate executives in machinery, forestry, clean energy and food accompanied Orpo's trip to China. The day before, they attended a meeting of the China-Finland Corporate Cooperation Committee and met with Chinese businesspeople, pledging sector-by-sector cooperation.
Before Orpo, following French President Emmanuel Macron in December, Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin on the 5th of this month and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on the 16th went to China and shook hands with Xi. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is boarding a flight to China on the night of the day, and German Prime Minister Friedrich Merz is scheduled to visit China next month. These trips to China are being pursued for the first time in years since the 2010s—nine years for Canada, 14 years for Ireland, nine years for Finland and eight years for the United Kingdom.
Starmer, who is heading to China on the night of the day, is expected to focus on talks to expand investment and trade in addition to his summit with Xi. According to Reuters, the United Kingdom wants to export not only luxury cars, clothing and whisky to China but also financial services products, and plans to mobilize the chancellor of the exchequer, the business and trade secretary, and an economic delegation for this trip. Ahead of Starmer's visit, the United Kingdom also signaled a desire to improve ties by approving plans to build a new Chinese Embassy in the heart of London. The embassy, set to be the largest Chinese Embassy in Europe, had its approval put on hold over security concerns but was approved after eight years.
Behind Western leaders' trips to China is security and trade pressure from the U.S. administration of Donald Trump. The Trump administration is clashing with allies such as Canada and Europe over unpredictable tariff policies and a push to incorporate Greenland. In particular, Trump once threatened, then withdrew, the imposition of up to 25% additional tariff on eight European countries that deployed troops to Greenland in opposition to the United States' ambition to annex Greenland. The eight European countries include the United Kingdom, Germany and France, as well as Finland, which is currently visiting China. In some European countries within the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), talk of a "Europe-only defense" that excludes the United States is emerging.
The closer alignment between the West and China is seen as an attempt to broaden diplomatic and security options away from U.S. pressure. In an editorial, China's state-run Global Times said, "As the world is shaken by unilateralism and hegemony, strengthening cooperation with China is being recognized as a momentum within Western countries. This is a symbolic turning point in the profound wave of transformation in the international order."
Still, U.S. checks are continuing. A few days after Carney's trip to China, Trump warned that if Canada signed an agreement with China, the United States would impose a 100% tariff on Canada, and Carney explained, "The recent steps with China are to correct issues that have accumulated over the past several years. They are different in nature from a free trade agreement (FTA)."
A senior White House official also expressed displeasure over the U.K.'s approval of a new Chinese Embassy, saying, "We are deeply concerned about the possibility of a hostile actor exploiting the core infrastructure of our closest allies." Starmer emphasized that this trip is only to seek business opportunities and is not intended to harm relations with the United States. Starmer told Bloomberg News, "We have a very close relationship with the United States, and, of course, we will maintain it," adding, "Cooperation will continue not only in business, but also in security and defense."