A high-level internal EU report shows that the EU is increasingly pessimistic about the possibility of maintaining a commercial and political de-linkage with China. The report also reflects a hardening of the EU’s stance toward the Chinese Communist Party.
According to the report, which was consolidated by Politico and other foreign news sources, the EU is seriously concerned about the “shift to dictatorship” of Chinese Communist Party President Xi Jinping. As a result, the EU has become increasingly pessimistic about the possibility of separating commercial interests from political issues when dealing with the Chinese Communist Party.
The EU’s ‘Europe-China Strategic Relations Report’, published two years ago, identified the future relationship between the EU and China as one of “institutional competition”. The report, which has been widely circulated within the EU in the last week, notes that Beijing has taken a “more authoritarian course” over the past two years.
The report notes that China’s continued move toward dictatorship, further blocking domestic political space, tightening social control, imposing repression in Xinjiang and Tibet, and suppressing fundamental freedoms in Hong Kong can only have a negative impact on the EU’s relationship with China. The report stresses that the EU has a stake in peace and stability in the South China Sea, noting that tensions have been rising across the Taiwan Strait for several weeks and calling for close attention.
The report also criticizes the Chinese authorities for their superficial economic commitments, such as opening up the agricultural market, opening up the Internet, solving overcapacity in steel and limiting government subsidies to state-owned enterprises, and making “little progress.
In the face of the Chinese Communist Party’s challenge, the report points out that the EU must continue to strengthen the security of its critical infrastructure and technological base in the future.
The report was reportedly outlined to the EU Council by European Commission President Von der Leyen and EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Borrelli in a letter dated 21 January. In the letter, the two EU leaders wrote that the EU and the Chinese Communist Party have substantial differences, whether concerning the economic system and the approach to globalization, democracy, human rights issues, or the way they deal with third countries, and that these differences will continue in the future and should not be deliberately concealed.
Recent Comments