Chinese President Xi Jinping met with the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen in early April.
Xinhua News Agency | Xinhua News Agency | Getty Images
European Union officials on Tuesday called for a latest and customary approach to China following French President Emmanuel Macron’s controversial comments about Taiwan earlier this month. Nevertheless, this latest strategy is unlikely to please the USA.
The Biden administration has thus far adopted a very critical tone towards Beijing and has proposed measures to limit China’s influence, including restrictions on the export of certain technologies. He forced the European nations to do the identical.
European nations currently have different views on relations with Beijing. Some capitals are in favor of closer ties with the US given its key role in security and defense, while other countries fear antagonizing China and jeopardizing deep economic ties. This has led to a divided approach towards China.
“I feel we are able to and must develop our own distinct European approach, which also leaves us space to work with other partners,” Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, the EU’s executive body, said in a speech on Tuesday.
![The EU does not want to end communication with China, says Dombrovskis](https://image.cnbcfm.com/api/v1/image/107223841-16813017371681301734-28986236726-1080pnbcnews.jpg?v=1681302577&w=750&h=422&vtcrop=y)
She stated that relations with China “are too necessary for us to not define our own European strategy and principles.”
In response to Eurostat, China was the EU’s largest source of imports and the third largest buyer of EU goods in 2022, underlining Beijing’s economic importance to Europe. This is especially relevant when EU economic growth is vulnerable to the continued war in Ukraine.
European leaders have also sought to forge closer ties with Beijing to stop it from supporting Russia in its war with Ukraine. US intelligence suggested China considered sending weapons and other ammunition to Russia, in line with NBC News.
Then there’s the problem of climate change, where many EU leaders see dialogue with China as crucial to any significant progress in reducing CO2 emissions.
“The purpose I made in Beijing is that we don’t desire to interrupt economic, social, political and scientific ties,” von der Leyen told the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France.
“Nevertheless, there’s an urgent must rebalance our relationship based on transparency, predictability and reciprocity,” she stressed, adding that “a central a part of our future strategy towards China have to be economic risk reduction.”
From the US perspective, this makes a stark difference, as US officials consider that cutting themselves off completely from Beijing – generally known as decoupling – is the perfect approach. The aim of Europe is to cut back and avoid risks, as an alternative of withdrawing completely from China.
We’re in competitive mode, but we want to talk over with China.
Józef Borrell
top EU diplomat
But there isn’t any doubt that it’s a difficult process.
Coming back from a visit to China earlier this month, Macron said the EU will need to have its own policy on Taiwan and avoid following the US agenda on the matter. He added it later being an ally doesn’t mean being a vassalreinforcing the concept of an independent EU policy.
His comments drew criticism within the US, but in addition within the US Germany and other European nations.
“We remain fundamentally committed to the EU’s One China Policy. We see no reason to query it. We’d like to lower the stress, avoid verbal outbursts or provocations that may only fuel distrust. Nevertheless, any try to change the established order by force could be unacceptable,” Josep Borrell, the EU’s top diplomat, said in a press release. He canceled a visit to China earlier this month after testing positive for Covid-19.
On Tuesday, he added that the EU must recalibrate its strategy towards China.
“We’re in competitive mode, but we want to maintain talking to China,” Borrell said in Strasbourg.