Macron’s gift horse to China as he calls for new ‘Silk Road’
EMMANUEL MACRON has responded to China’s “panda diplomacy” by offering Xi Jinping, the Chinese president, a horse of the elite Republican Guard.
The offer of Vesuvius, an eight-yearold brown gelding from the presidential cavalry corps, came as the French leader embarked on a three-day visit to China with Brigitte, his wife.
In November, she became the “godmother” of a baby panda lent by Beijing to a zoo near Paris. The horse, flown in a special plane and currently in quarantine, was an “unprecedented diplomatic gesture”, said the presidency. It came with a special harness and sword. Lu Kang, a foreign ministry spokesman, said: “China expresses its thanks and appreciation for the friendly act.” Mr Macron, who yesterday landed in Beijing to meet Mr Xi, earlier called on China and Europe to work together to build a new "Silk Road".
♦french businessman Alexandre Djouhri was arrested on Sunday at Heathrow as part of a probe into whether Muammar Gaddafi illegally funded Nicolas Sarkozy’s presidential campaign in 2007. He was remanded in custody at Westminster magistrates’ court.