Interview: Europe needs "own voice" distinct from U.S., says expert

BARCELONA, Spain, April 13 (Xinhua) -- "Europe has allowed itself to be led by the United States but we're now beginning to create our own voice and to distance ourselves from the United States," a professor of East Asian Studies at the Autonomous University of Barcelona told Xinhua on Thursday.

Joaquin Beltran shared his analysis in an interview with Xinhua of the recent trips to China by Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez at the end of March, and by French President Emmanuel Macron last week.

"Macron has just been to China and has followed the same line as Sanchez, although in a much more assertive way, saying that we have to begin distancing ourselves from what the United States wants," Beltran said.

During Macron's visit, the key topics included the situation in Ukraine and the 12-point peace plan that China unveiled in February. Ending the conflict in Eastern Europe was also high on the agenda during Sanchez's visit.

"There's a type of boycott by the United States against any peace initiative because the United States does not want there to be peace in Ukraine," said Beltran.

The professor argued that while America's political elites may have an interest in a continuation of the Ukraine conflict, it is not a position shared by China, and he said that there are also increasingly more voices in Europe that are calling for peace.

"For China, Ukraine has always been a major trading partner, and Russia too, and it does not want to choose between one or the other. What it wants is for both countries to talk, to negotiate, to reach an understanding," Beltran told Xinhua.

He believed that Europe will increasingly support peace processes in Ukraine and aim to help negotiations. This is what the United States does not like at all, according to Beltran.

Both Sanchez and Macron signed trade agreements with China during their visits. Beltran believed that whatever happens in Ukraine, the aim of European countries like Spain and France is to consolidate their ties with China.

"Europe's relationship with China is already very strong, the issue is whether we continue to strengthen it or go backwards and weaken it," Beltran said.