TOURMALET PASS, France (AP) — France’s president is hosting China’s leader at a remote mountain pass in the Pyrenees on Tuesday for private meetings after a high-stakes state visit in Paris dominated by trade disputes and Russia’s war in Ukraine.
French President Emmanuel Macron made a point of inviting Chinese President Xi Jinping to the Tourmalet Pass near the Spanish border, where Macron spent time as a child visiting his grandmother. It is meant to be a reciprocal gesture after Xi took Macron last year to the residence of the governor of Guangdong province, where the Chinese president’s father once lived.
Snow coated nearby slopes after new snowfall overnight, and security was tightened around the area. The winding roads up to the pass were blocked by authorities Tuesday for dozens of kilometers (miles).
The mountain meetings come after a grandiose state visit by Xi on Monday that included a ceremonial welcome at the monument housing Napoleon’s tomb and a state dinner at the Elysee Palace with celebrities and magnates.
Xi is on a trip to Europe aimed at reinvigorating relations at a time of global tensions. He heads next to Serbia and Hungary.
Celebrity birthdays for the week of May 12
Arrests made after Lower Hutt siblings hospitalised with severe injuries
One in critical condition after e
China's population drops for 2nd year, with record low birth rate
China nurtures unicorn enterprises via sci
Death penalty for artist behind Kyoto anime fire, which killed 36
Mysterious 'Big Ring' found in space 'must surely be telling us something'
Israel reined in by International Court of Justice rulings on Gaza
What we learned from local votes ahead of looming UK general election
Cancer patients' travel funding boost: 'Important no one falling through the gap'
After AP's missing students investigation, children return to school
Robyn Malcolm takes out best actress gong at France film festival