![]() ![]() “Because EU foreign policy requires unanimity, you are forced to move at the pace of the slowest member state,” says Ian Bond, director of foreign policy at the Centre for European Reform. German diplomats have historically played down tensions with China and on the matter of economics, German ministers are listened to carefully by everyone in Brussels and will often set an agenda that is followed by other member states. Further complicating the matter: China is the largest trading partner of the EU’s wealthiest and arguably most powerful member state, Germany. Historically, it has also been hard for the EU’s member states and institutions to agree a common policy on China. Now, politicians and citizens are more susceptible to see China for what it really is,” Parton said. And Beijing hasn’t helped this perception by pushing disinformation about Covid. “Rightly or wrongly, a lot of Western politicians have painted China as being responsible for what’s happened. And while anti-China sentiment has been rising across the West for years, the ruling Communist Party’s handling of the initial stages of the Covid-19 pandemic has also led to a record high in negative views toward the country, according to Pew. When Europeans met with Xi Jinping, they would say they brought up human rights, everyone would nod, then they would get down to business,” he said.īut pressure has been steadily building on European leaders to hold China accountable. Persecution of the Uyghurs or crackdowns in Hong Kong. “The reality was, citizens were not putting huge pressure on politicians to do anything. ![]() LUDOVIC MARIN/AFP via Getty ImagesĬharles Parton, former first counsellor to the EU delegation in Beijing, thinks Brussels’ previous inaction largely came down to the fact that for a time, Europe’s leaders could get away with doing nothing. In 2019, the European Commission published a document in which it labeled China a “systemic rival.” In the two years that followed, Europe has slowly worked out how it deals with a rival with whom it has so many ties and which it still wants to partner with in other areas.Ĭhina's President Xi Jinping (right) and French President Emmanuel Macron (left) taste wine as they visit France's pavilion during the China International Import Expo in Shanghai in November 2019. The EU’s newfound assertiveness didn’t come about suddenly, rather it was the culmination of several years of changing attitudes. Now, the idea of Europeans attending Joe Biden’s democracy summit, which will point the finger at China, is a lot less comfortable.” “They liked it when Europe wanted a bit more autonomy from America and a closer relationship with China was part of that. “China likes Europe when it’s sitting on the fence,” says Theresa Fallon, director at the Centre for Russia, Europe and Asia Studies. There’s little doubt that these tougher policies will annoy Beijing. The Global Gateway comes hot on the heels of an EU proposal to bolster its military capabilities independently of NATO and the “Indo-Pacific Strategy,” a plan to bolster European influence in the geographical area in which China wields significant power. The BRI was once seen by some in Europe as a way of pouring money into the continent while modernizing its infrastructure, but Beijing’s authoritarian turn at home and hostile foreign policy abroad in recent years has led to a radical rethink on whether having state-backed Chinese companies holding major stakes in critical infrastructure – or allowing European countries to be in debt to China – is the best place for Brussels to be. Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the gateway offered a “true alternative” to China’s BRI, which has been accused of saddling some countries with huge debts since its inception in 2013. While the plan does not mention China, it’s hard to see this announcement as anything other than a direct alternative to Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), a wide-ranging trade and infrastructure project that would link economies from Jakarta to Rotterdam via Nairobi. Last week, the European Commission unveiled a plan called the “Global Gateway,” to invest €300 billion ($340 billion) globally by 2027 on infrastructure projects, digital connectivity and curbing climate change. ![]() ![]() European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, European Council President Charles Michel, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Emmanuel Macron and Chinese President Xi Jinping during a video conference to approve an investment pact between China and the EU on December 30, 2020. ![]()
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