EU foreign ministers met yesterday to seek a common approach on lessening Europe’s reliance on China and coaxing Beijing to take a tougher stance on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Brussels is urging the EU’s 27 nations to get on the same page on how they deal with China as a more assertive Beijing flexes its influence on the world stage.
Speaking at the European Parliament this week, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that the relations were getting tougher as “rivalry and competition on the side of China have certainly increased.”
Photo: AFP
He backed calls for a “smart derisking” by slashing Europe’s dependence on China for key materials, but there is no appetite to sever all ties with the world’s second-biggest economy.
“There is a desire to avoid confrontation with China, even if disputes are multiplying,” said Elvire Fabry, a researcher at the Jacques Delors Institute think tank.
Most pressing among those disagreements is China’s refusal to condemn its close ally Russia and Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, or to press Russia to stop its attack.
Brussels has enraged Beijing by proposing to restrict exports of sensitive tech to eight Chinese firms suspected of shipping it on to Russia.
On a European tour this week, Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Qin Gang (秦剛) said Beijing would take the “necessary response” if the EU moved ahead with any sanctions.
In Berlin, Qin clashed over Ukraine with German Minister of Foreign Affairs Annalena Baerbock, who said that China’s proclaimed “neutrality means taking the side of the aggressor.”
French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Catherine Colonna sought to soften the tone when she met Qin by saying that China had an important role to play for “global peace and stability” in efforts to mediate.
On a trip to China last month, French President Emmanuel Macron opened up EU fissures by saying Europe should not automatically follow US policy on Taiwan and should avoid “crises that aren’t ours.”
That stirred fierce criticism from some other European allies, which see the US as a security guarantor against Russia.
Yesterday’s meeting of foreign ministers in Stockholm was not meant to reach any concrete conclusions, but the hope was that the talks could help nudge the EU toward greater unity in its ongoing efforts to grapple with the challenges posed by Beijing.
“The important thing is not to prevent China from becoming a world power, it is to manage how China will use this power,” EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell said on Thursday.
The EU officially categorizes China as simultaneously a partner, competitor and rival, and there is no plan to tear up that approach.
However, EU officials say the emphasis could now move increasingly to managing the rivalry rather than working together.
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