As tensions rise between China and Europe, European countries are moving closer to the U.S. government’s position, and the China-EU investment agreement, which took seven years of marathon negotiations to reach, is likely to change, foreign media reported.
The report points out that since the China-EU investment agreement was reached in December last year, the executive branch of the European Union and Germany have each legislated to join the ranks of the U.S. sanctions against the Chinese Communist Party, making it more difficult for Chinese entities to invest in them. The Italian government, formerly an ardent supporter of the Belt and Road Initiative, has also turned to blocking Chinese companies from acquiring its own industries. France summoned the Chinese ambassador to France in March this year, but the Chinese Communist Party embassy refused to do so, citing travel reasons.
Analysts say these moves show a hardening of Europe’s stance toward China, but the biggest shift may yet come. Polls show that Germany’s distrustful and hard-line attitude toward China will further escalate after the Greens play a major role in the government after the September elections. These signs also indicate that the European position is gradually aligning with the Biden administration, with a more united U.S.-European alliance expected as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken attends the Group of Seven (G7) foreign ministers meeting in London this week, involving trade, tariffs, technology and other dimensions.
Joerg Wuttke, president of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China and board member of the Mercator Institute for China Studies (MERICS) in Berlin, was also quoted as saying that China-Europe relations are undergoing a period of emotional transformation. The Mercator Institute for China Studies was sanctioned by the Chinese Communist Party in March this year.
Just four months ago, German Chancellor Angela Merkel helped the EU adopt the China-EU Investment Agreement, which EU Executive Committee President Ursula von der Leyen called an important milestone in China-EU relations and will provide European investors with better access to the Chinese market, according to the report. But by the end of March this year, the EU joined the ranks of the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom in imposing sanctions on the Chinese Communist Party over the Xinjiang cotton incident, and the Chinese Communist Party then took countermeasures, with the Chinese masses launching a civil boycott of H&M in Sweden.
Analysis shows that the EU has recently added many new agendas related to human rights, ideology and democracy, and it is expected that the confrontation and conflict with the Chinese Communist Party will continue.
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