Beijing’s tough crackdown on Hong Kong raises opposition to investment agreement in Europe

After years of negotiations, the European Union (EU) and China finalized an investment agreement at the end of the year. However, Beijing’s tough stance on the situation in Hong Kong has disappointed the European community and added to the uncertainty of the final approval of the agreement.

German business daily Handelsblatt reported today that the recent arrests of pro-democracy activists by the Hong Kong SAR government have caused widespread disappointment in EU politics. Bernd Lange, Chairman of the European Parliament’s Trade Committee, said that the situation in Hong Kong and the continued persecution of human rights by the Chinese Communist Party “do not bode well” for the implementation of the investment agreement, and that the European Parliament will make its views clear when it considers the matter.

The European Parliament’s largest party group, the EPP Group, is also frustrated by the situation in Hong Kong, with German MEP Daniel Caspary saying that the expansion of the crackdown is a sign that the Chinese Communist Party’s top brass is coldly consolidating the system in defiance of international law.

Hanns Günther Hilpert, an Asia expert at the Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik, a German government think tank, warned that the EU’s agreement to an investment deal with China would give the Chinese Communist Party the idea that the regime in Beijing could continue to regulate its “internal affairs” on its own, based on its economic power and free from foreign influence.

In addition, the investment agreement has drawn criticism from its ally, the United States. President-elect Joe Biden’s staff has said they will coordinate China policy with Europe, but the EU has rushed to conclude negotiations with China before Biden’s inauguration, to the consternation of even Washington, which values relations with Europe.

After the EU and China complete their negotiations by the end of 2020, the investment agreement will need to be ratified by the 27 EU member states and the European Parliament before it can enter into force.