Macron Badmouths China on Friday, Kisses Up to Xi as He Orders 300 Airbus Airliners on Monday

Macron fails to repeat his theme of the devious Chinese preying on "naive" Europeans as Xi shows up in Paris with Renminbi

*Beijing is surely looking forward to the day when it can fill the skies with airliners of its own make and not have to reward the likes of either Trump or Macron*

On Friday when Xi was doing business with the Italians the Chinese were devious players who had “taken advantage” of “naive” Europeans:

“The time of European naïveté is ended,” Mr Macron said on Friday. “For many years we had an unco-ordinated approach and China took advantage of our divisions.”

On Monday when Xi is in Paris dropping a $10 billion order for 300 Airbus airliners Macron wants a “strong European partnership with China” based on multilateralism:

Speaking at the Elysee Palace following talks with Xi, Macron called for a “strong Europe-China partnership”, adding that this must be based on “strong multilateralism” and “fair and balanced” trade.

Hey Macron, how come you’re not bringing up the theme of exploitative China preying on disunited Europeans again? With Xi right there next to you, listening wouldn’t this be the time to do it?

For now China is best served by playing Boeing and Airbus against each other and not going full in on either, but Beijing must surely be looking forward to the day when it can fill the skies with airliners of its own make and not have to reward the likes of either Trump or Macron.