China's Xi visits Pyrenees mountains, in a personal gesture by France's Macron
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.
Related articles
Minnesota legislators consider constitutional amendment to protect abortion and LGBTQ rights
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Minnesota Democrats have introduced far-reaching legislation to add abortion2024-05-08Anchovies draw crush of sea lions to San Francisco piers, the most in 15 years
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — They’re lounging, biting each other and generally making a ruckus in numbers no2024-05-08My friend is seeing my husband of 20 years, whom I only separated from weeks ago
A woman who separated from her husband of 20 years has revealed that her friend now wants a romantic2024-05-08- Jo Kessel checks into the new 347-room Pan Pacific Orchard hotel in Singapore to film a structure th2024-05-08
Woman, 62, is left baffled as she turns up to a hospital scan only to be told she's already dead
A baffled woman turned up to a hospital scan only to be told by staff that she'd already died. Susan2024-05-08Tight league title races play out across European soccer. Belgium aims for more epic last
GENEVA (AP) — The helicopter is on standby again. Its task? To deliver the Belgian league trophy to2024-05-08
atest comment