On March 22, the EU announced sanctions and travel restrictions on four Chinese officials, including the director of the Public Security Bureau, after China was accused of human rights abuses against Uighurs and other minorities in Xinjiang.
Beijing’s immediate retaliation by announcing sanctions against five European Parliament members, three parliamentarians in EU countries and two EU academics did not sway the bloc, and the European Parliament even announced that it would suspend its review of the EU-China Comprehensive Agreement on Investment.
Judging by the EU’s tough attitude toward China on the issue of human rights in Xinjiang, especially at a time when US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was visiting NATO headquarters, the sanctions not only express the bloc’s intent to join hands with the US in opposing China, but also that it places more importance on universal values — such as the view that genocide is unacceptable and that human rights must be protected — than on the huge commercial interests represented by its dealings with China.
The EU and China have long had an important economic and trade partnership.
Data released on Feb. 15 by Eurostat showed that trade between the EU and China last year reached 58.6 billion euros (US$68.85 billion), surpassing the US’ 31 billion euros in trade and making China the EU’s largest trading partner.
Even so, liberal democracy and fundamental human rights are important issues. French Minister Delegate for Foreign Trade and Economic Attractiveness Franck Riester said that China is an important global trading partner of the EU, but that the relationship cannot be at the expense of values, principles and democracy.
In short, since the EU issued an arms embargo on China after the Tiananmen Square Massacre, more than 30 years ago, there have been no conflicts between the EU and China over other issues. Now that China has been internationally accused of detaining large numbers of Uighurs in re-education camps and subjecting them to torture, abuse, sexual assault, forced labor and other serious human rights violations, this has caused dissatisfaction in the EU, which has once again proposed sanctions against China.
This shows that the EU’s China policy is no longer focused on interests, but is on the verge of a strategic readjustment.
Chang Sue-chung is a chair professor at Hungkuo Delin University of Technology.
Translated by Perry Svensson
Concerns that the US might abandon Taiwan are often overstated. While US President Donald Trump’s handling of Ukraine raised unease in Taiwan, it is crucial to recognize that Taiwan is not Ukraine. Under Trump, the US views Ukraine largely as a European problem, whereas the Indo-Pacific region remains its primary geopolitical focus. Taipei holds immense strategic value for Washington and is unlikely to be treated as a bargaining chip in US-China relations. Trump’s vision of “making America great again” would be directly undermined by any move to abandon Taiwan. Despite the rhetoric of “America First,” the Trump administration understands the necessity of
US President Donald Trump’s challenge to domestic American economic-political priorities, and abroad to the global balance of power, are not a threat to the security of Taiwan. Trump’s success can go far to contain the real threat — the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) surge to hegemony — while offering expanded defensive opportunities for Taiwan. In a stunning affirmation of the CCP policy of “forceful reunification,” an obscene euphemism for the invasion of Taiwan and the destruction of its democracy, on March 13, 2024, the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) used Chinese social media platforms to show the first-time linkage of three new
If you had a vision of the future where China did not dominate the global car industry, you can kiss those dreams goodbye. That is because US President Donald Trump’s promised 25 percent tariff on auto imports takes an ax to the only bits of the emerging electric vehicle (EV) supply chain that are not already dominated by Beijing. The biggest losers when the levies take effect this week would be Japan and South Korea. They account for one-third of the cars imported into the US, and as much as two-thirds of those imported from outside North America. (Mexico and Canada, while
I have heard people equate the government’s stance on resisting forced unification with China or the conditional reinstatement of the military court system with the rise of the Nazis before World War II. The comparison is absurd. There is no meaningful parallel between the government and Nazi Germany, nor does such a mindset exist within the general public in Taiwan. It is important to remember that the German public bore some responsibility for the horrors of the Holocaust. Post-World War II Germany’s transitional justice efforts were rooted in a national reckoning and introspection. Many Jews were sent to concentration camps not
RSS