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Europe is likely to remain somewhere in between until the US. USA Impose a full series of sentences on China to further invade the freedoms of Hong Kong. The EU’s foreign envoy, Josep Borrell, said the sanctions were not the answer to “our problems with China.” In a letter to the bloc’s foreign ministers ahead of a scheduled video conference in China, he urged them to consider “what influence we have.”
However, European anger will not dissipate quickly, and there are signs that China’s actions could have even more serious consequences, accelerating Europe’s efforts to adopt a more coherent industrial policy and joint decisions on the role of Huawei Technologies Co. in the deployment of 5G networks. The post-pandemic rescue plan presented by German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron a couple of weeks ago seeks to strengthen Europe from within, but also sets out measures to deal with external threats.
Diplomatic ties are currently weakened when China provokes European governments with aggressive reports on social media criticizing its actions in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic, and some European officials in turn criticizing Beijing for its prompt response to the outbreak.
While preparations for the first meeting of EU-27 leaders and President Xi Jinping will continue officially this fall, the Chinese academy and industry have expressed doubts about the event, which will be the culmination of the Sino-European Year of friendship.
The result is even more sticking points, which could lead European leaders to see China as a threat to Europe and not as an ally against the Trump administration’s anti-globalist tendencies.
“Everything is changing,” says Jean-Maurice Ripert, for 2019. He worked as a French ambassador to China in the late 19th century. The pandemic has led to “awakening and realizing China’s expansionary ambitions,” he said. “The coronavirus crisis and what is happening in Hong Kong is opening the eyes of those who did not believe it before.”
Some other prominent politicians think similarly. Norbert Roettgen, chairman of the Bundestag foreign affairs committee and a possible successor to Merkel, says Europe’s credibility depends on its united response to China.
Germany’s position in shaping Europe’s response will be crucial as it is the largest economy in the EU and, as of July 1. assumes the presidency of the block. EU relations with China should have been a key issue for the German Presidency, but the pandemic has changed priorities.
According to a German government official who is aware of the Foreign Ministry’s thinking, China’s attack on Hong Kong surprised everyone. This exacerbated the dilemma facing Germany. Merkel does not want to overtake Donald Trump, who often refers to Covid-19 as a “Chinese virus,” but understands that the security situation in Hong Kong could deteriorate rapidly. No one wants a new Cold War, said the official, who wants to remain anonymous.
“China is not only our partner and competitor, it is a country that adheres to completely different values from ours in terms of law, freedom, democracy and human rights,” Merkel said in a speech on Wednesday. Although the chancellor mentioned Hong Kong’s “one country, two systems” principle, she noted that even fundamental disagreements should not impede dialogue and cooperation.
Merkel’s balance on a tightrope is also being criticized. The chief legislator of the Social Democratic coalition, Nils Schmid, has accused the foreign minister of endorsing the old-fashioned idea of China as an economic partner and of underestimating Beijing’s “systemic challenges”. Merkel resisted a global consensus not to allow Huawei to implement 5G networks, a move Roettgen supported, among other things.
Schizophrenic
Europe should have influence against China, given Beijing’s need to find allies in the deepening conflict with the United States. In fact, the bloc is divided: Italy and Hungary, on the one hand, enthusiastic supporters of Xi Jinping’s “One Lane, One Road” investment and infrastructure program, and France, Germany, and other countries with more cautious relations with Beijing.
An EU diplomat, who asked to remain anonymous, described the bloc’s approach to China as “schizophrenic” and said that Europe could not decide whether China was its strategic partner or an aggressive competitor.
However, in their joint plan, Merkel and Macron aim to strengthen Europe’s industrial defense and reduce its dependence on China. References to European champions (Macron mentioned “technological sovereignty”), the strategic healthcare industry across the bloc, and the transition to a greener, more digital lifestyle suggest that we are talking about a rescue fund of more than 500 billion euros, says Eric Nielsen. , Chief Economist, UniCredit.
The proposal by Janka Oertel A. Merkel and E. Macron, director of the Asia program of the Berlin-based European Council on Foreign Affairs, which still needs approval from other members of the bloc, “spoke exclusively of China, although China was not mentioned”.
Strategic reassessment
“That is what we have to talk about: a strategic reassessment of Europe’s relations with China and the challenges China poses to the European economy, not globally, but rather directly,” he said.
Paris formally emphasizes the “balance” of European-Chinese relations with a view to facilitating reciprocal market access and a common fight against climate change. Questions to the French Foreign Ministry about China’s interference in Hong Kong affairs were met by a tepid EU statement in which the bloc said it attached “great importance” to maintaining territorial autonomy, but that in At first he did not criticize China.
However, even such statements are important because there are still attempts to form a common European position, said French diplomat J.-M. Ripert “The situation can explode at any time, so it is not surprising that Europe is taking time.” , said. “Covert speeches don’t make sense.”
Chinese officials have tried to minimize the potential impact of the implementation of national security laws in Hong Kong, saying it will affect only a small number of people who helped organize violent protests last year. In an open letter to city dwellers, Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam emphasized that “the vast majority of citizens” will continue to enjoy freedom of speech, press, and assembly under the laws currently being drafted by Congress People’s National, the Chinese legislature.
5G networks
“The EU will say something for political reasons, but is actually more concerned about the recession,” said Wang Yiwei, a former diplomat at the Chinese embassy in Brussels. – They always talk about the rule of law, but in fact here is the rule of law. As Hong Kong is part of China, its future will be decided by the National People’s Congress. The EU should support this decision, but some lobbyists may not. “
Xi Jinping may have misjudged possible sanctions for an attack on Hong Kong’s democracy, says German legislature Reinhard Buetikofer, who chairs the EU Parliament delegation for relations with China.
If Beijing decides to continue its operations in Hong Kong, no one will have the leverage to stop it, so the message must be that “it will have consequences,” he emphasized in an interview with Bloomberg TV. “And I think some of the controversial issues in Europe, like whether we will allow Huawei to implement 5G networks, may seem very different, given China’s recent actions.”
The UK has proposed an alliance of 10 democracies to reduce its dependence on China for the development of critical 5G wireless technology, The Times of London reported. The UK government has asked Washington to establish a club of nations that includes the G-7 and Australia, South Korea and India, The Times reported, but did not say where it came from.
Meanwhile, the UK has released a new review of Huawei’s role in its networks after the United States decided not to allow the Chinese company to join the American technology. Such actions will influence German decisions, emphasized Oertel of the ECFR.
Legislation on 5G networks is still being drafted in Berlin as part of the IT Security Law, and negotiations on Huawei’s involvement in the deployment of the network are expected in the coming weeks, before the summer break. According to an informed German legislator, the debate on China is currently intensifying.
On Sunday, when Foreign Minister Wang Yi warned the United States not to start a “new Cold War” with China, the ministry issued several tweets in English calling for solidarity with Europe. The pandemic requires that both sides “overcome ideological differences” and that China and the EU be “strategic partners”.
Friedolin Strack, CEO of the Asia-Pacific German Business Committee, believes that dialogue is necessary, and China’s “secession” is not the answer. However, it also supports a stronger and more united Europe that is better able to tackle problems such as distortions of competition caused by state-owned companies.
Last year, the Strack Committee helped create an influential document signed by lobbyists for the German BDI industry that resonated in Europe and Beijing, calling for a more sober stance on China.
Two months later, the EU called China a systemic competitor. Strack now sees an opportunity for Europe to become a “strong intermediate partner” that shares values with the United States but works with China on multilateral solutions. “The EU’s position as a stronger global actor has great potential,” he said.
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