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BRUSSELS: European Union leaders told Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday (September 14) to open markets, respect minorities, and walk away from the crackdown in Hong Kong, also claiming that Europe would no longer be taken advantage of. on trade.
Eager to show that the EU will not take sides in a global showdown between China and the United States, German Chancellor Angela Merkel joined the bloc’s chief executive and chairman in delivering a tough message to Beijing.
“Europe is a player, not a playing field,” European Council President Charles Michel, who chaired the video summit, told reporters, referring to a growing sense in Europe that China has failed to deliver on its promises to participate in free and fair trade.
With more than 1 billion euros a day in bilateral trade, the EU is China’s main trading partner, while China ranks second after the United States as the EU’s market for goods and services.
China’s Xi was not part of the post-summit press conference and there was no joint statement, but the state-run Xinhua news agency reported that Xi rejected any interference in Chinese affairs, particularly human rights.
“The Chinese people will not accept ‘a human rights instructor’ and will oppose ‘double standards’, Xinhua reported quoting Xi during the video summit.” China is willing to strengthen exchanges with the European side on the basis of the principle of mutual respect so that the two sides can make progress. “
The European Union accuses China of violating a number of global trade rules, from overproducing steel to stealing Western intellectual property, which Beijing denies.
European attitudes have also hardened toward Beijing due to the new coronavirus, which many scientists believe originated in China, and due to a new security law in Hong Kong that the West says restricts basic rights.
I PRESS
“We are very serious about gaining access to the Chinese market and breaking down barriers,” said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen at the press conference.
A government brochure shows German Chancellor Angela Merkel during a video conference with the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and the President of China, Xi Jinping, at the Chancellery in Berlin , Germany, September 14, 2020 (Photo: Bundesregierung / Steffen Kugler / Handout via REUTERS)
Merkel said that she and her two EU colleagues had lobbied Xi to make it clear if she really wanted an investment deal that is being negotiated between the two that would force China to open its markets.
“We are pushing … to advance the investment agreement,” Merkel told reporters from Berlin.
“In general, cooperation with China should be based on certain principles: reciprocity, fair competition. We are different social systems, but although we are committed to multilateralism, it should be based on rules,” he added.
The demand for a level playing field was justified today given China’s economic transformation over the past 15 years, Merkel said.
The EU also wants stronger commitments on climate change from China, the world’s leading polluter.
The EU and China signed an agreement to protect food and beverages exported from each other, from feta cheese to Pixian bean paste.
Although modest, the new agreement is a commercial blow to Europe, as US, Australian or New Zealand producers will no longer be able to use the protected names in their exports to China, although there is a transition period for certain cheeses.
