While the leaders of China and the European Union were bouncing their heads off the recently concluded bilateral comprehensive investment agreement, many small and medium-sized EU member states began to speak out, expressing their dissatisfaction with the agreement and their anger at Germany for forcing other countries to submit to the Chinese Communist Party for its own selfish interests.
Politico, a U.S. political news site, reported Friday (Jan. 1) that Italy, Poland, Belgium, Spain and other countries disliked the performance of the German EU presidency in the late stages of the agreement negotiations.
Officials in those countries had warned that China had been ignoring criticism of forced labor and that the EU’s agreement with China at this time would not only be untimely but could alienate relations with the next new U.S. administration. But Germany apparently didn’t heed that warning, the report said.
Germans targeted
Officials in those countries say they feel they are being held hostage by the Germans. At the top of the list of Germans criticized is Chancellor Angela Merkel. She has done her best to pressure EU member states to compromise with China on major issues in the negotiations in order to conclude the talks before the end of her term and to open up greater investment space for German big businesses that have huge investments in China.
The other two main promoters are European Commission President von der Leyen and Sabine Weyand, director general of the European Union’s trade division. Both of these heavyweights are Germans.
Politico.com quoted an EU diplomat as saying, “Merkel’s desperate push for the European Commission to complete her signature project before her term ends has caused a lot of resentment among the smaller [EU] countries.”
Agreement could be boycotted in national parliaments
The New York Times notes that the investment agreement, while already in place, still needs to be approved by the parliaments of EU member states and the European Parliament. And many of these parliaments are opposed to the agreement. Predictably, political opposition in Europe and the U.S. could eventually put this historic agreement on hold.
The New York Times said that China is not only a powerful economic competitor, but also has a large and lucrative market, and the West faces many difficulties in dealing with such an autocratic power.
Bilateral Investment Agreement Seen as Political Victory for Xi Jinping
Politico.com reports that the agreement is a big political victory for Chinese President Xi Jinping. The Chinese Communist Party has taken a string of major human rights abuses this year, despite strong opposition from world opinion, such as the passage of the National Security Law in Hong Kong, which vigorously suppresses the freedom rights of the Hong Kong people, the mass persecution of the Uighur minority in Xinjiang, and the crackdown on citizen journalists involved in reporting on the source of the new crown virus.
Italian Deputy Foreign Minister Ivan Scalfarotto referred to these human rights violations committed by the Chinese government when he spoke on Thursday. He said, “We are sending a positive signal to China at a time when there are major human rights concerns.”
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