Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi is continuing his five-nation tour of Europe, trying to lure markets to turn Europe’s cooling relations with China and move closer to the United States on several key issues, while threatening That Beijing will severely punish Europe’s alleged anti-China forces.
In a speech at the French Institute of International Relations on Sunday, Wang stressed that China and Europe do not have a conflict of fundamental interests and are not institutional rivals despite their different social systems. He proposed to strengthen solidarity and cooperation in four areas, including promoting post-epidemic economic recovery and strengthening investment partnership.
In the past few months, European countries have begun to re-examine their economic and trade relations with China amid widespread dissatisfaction with China’s handling of the novel Coronavirus epidemic and Beijing’s push for a national security law in Hong Kong. Several European countries have heeded the US call by deciding not to follow the US secretary of state’s two recent visits to Europe, with Mr Wang’s visit widely seen as an attempt to halt the further decline in Sino-European relations and keep Europe from moving closer to the US.
Helena Legarda, a researcher at Germany’s Mercator Center for Chinese Studies, told VOA that Chinese leaders do not want to lose Europe at a time of deteriorating relations with the U.S., so Wang will try to strike a conciliatory tone and talk about opportunities for cooperation on various issues.
But as he left France for Germany, the final leg of his European tour, Wang’s comments on the visit of Czech Senate President Vitech Kaczek to Taiwan were another reminder of the difficulties Europeans face in dealing with China.
“China will never sit idly by and let the speaker’s open provocation and the anti-China forces behind him pay a heavy price for his short-sighted behavior and political speculation,” Wang said in response to a question from reporters in Germany.
The Czech Senate voted by an overwhelming 50-1 in favor of Vitech’s visit to Taiwan, which “highlights the values of freedom, democracy and human rights.” Dozens of lawmakers from the European Parliament, the United States, Germany, France and other national parliaments also signed to support Vitech’s visit to Taiwan.
The lawmakers’ support for Vitch’s visit, despite pressure from Beijing, follows widespread criticism from European leaders that Beijing is pushing ahead with a national security law in Hong Kong.
Li Ailing, a China expert, predicted that Europe would continue to trade with China in its own strategic interests, while speaking out on issues such as democracy in Hong Kong, human rights in China and cyber security. Chinese telecom operators will be allowed to participate in the construction of 5G mobile network infrastructure.
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