European Leaders Engage China Amid U.S. Alliance Strains (Full Transcript)

[00:00:00] Speaker 1: Britain's Keir Starmer, Canada's Mark Carney, and France's Emmanuel Macron have all visited China since late last year. They're all coming as they face frictions with the U.S. President Donald Trump has shaken up long-standing U.S. alliances with his threats to take control of Greenland, raise tariffs, as well as a spiraling feud with Canada. Now, these leaders, who are some of the U.S.'s closest partners, have arrived in Beijing looking to either reset ties with China or boost their cooperation. And Beijing sees that as an important opening. Chinese officials have for years been frustrated by what they see as U.S. allies following an American hard line on China. And Chinese leader Xi Jinping has for years been calling for a new world order, one that's more friendly to China and not led by the U.S. For China and Europe, these meetings could be a step towards resolving frictions. Europe has been worried about China's huge trade surplus and an influx of exports like Chinese EVs into their economy. It remains to be seen how much Beijing is willing to concede, and the meetings so far have had limited takeaways. But the optics are critical for Beijing, as it looks to showcase itself as a responsible power and an irreplaceable partner. And let's not forget that Xi Jinping has another important moment on his diplomatic calendar, when he's expected to host Trump this spring, in another key moment for Beijing to flex the importance of its role on the global stage.