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| World |
| Partners, Competitors or Rivals? | |
| The evolution of China-EU relations in light of global changes | |
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 The COSCO Shipping Pisces, one of the world's largest container ships with a 20,000-TEU capacity, operated by China Ocean Shipping (Group) Company, makes a call at the Port of Piraeus in Greece on February 15 (XINHUA)
After Chinese President Xi Jinping's visits to Italy, Monaco and France on March 21-26, Premier Li Keqiang will attend the 21st China-EU Summit in Brussels, Belgium, in April amid a backdrop of pressing international problems.
The Brexit situation, the ongoing China-U.S. trade frictions and the situation in Venezuela will all be discussed as China and the 28-member bloc try to formulate a combined response as in previous summits. In preparation, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi attended the ninth China-EU High Level Strategic Dialogue in Brussels on March 18, where a consensus was reached on 10 major areas, including promoting rules-based multilateralism, endorsing an open global economy and strengthening the World Trade Organization. "No matter how the international situation changes, China will always view the EU as an important strategic partner and places China-EU relations in an important and high-priority position within its foreign policy," Wang said during a joint press conference with the EU's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini. Mogherini, who described Wang as a "good friend," said that the EU holds China in high regard, affirming that cooperation and exchanges between the two had reached "an unprecedented level." "The EU is committed to strengthening cooperation with China. China is a leading global power, economically and politically, and for the EU, it's a comprehensive strategic partner," she said, adding that the "friendship and partnership" can address issues even when there is not 100-percent agreement. This seemed to be a reference to a document released by the European Commission on March 12, which named China as a "cooperation partner" but also as an "economic competitor" and "systematic rival." Titled EU-China—A Strategic Outlook, it outlined 10 concrete actions for EU heads of state and governments to discuss and endorse at the European Council meeting held on March 21-22. Wang admitted that disagreements exist between China and the EU due to their different histories, cultures and development stages, but he also said the new round of reform and opening up in China will address some of these issues. "Moderate and benign market competition will encourage both of us to be better, and will make China-EU cooperation more resilient and more dynamic," he said. "While competition between China and the EU is hard to avoid, cooperation is still the mainstream and win-win is the goal," Wang said.
Chinese engineer Zhang Fei (left) and Croatian engineer Ivica Granic, both employees of the China Road and Bridge Corp., read construction plans on the Peljesac Peninsula in Croatia on March 21 (XINHUA)
Sound momentum China-EU relations have maintained win-win cooperation since the establishment of the China-EU comprehensive strategic partnership back in 2003, followed by the China-EU 2020 Strategic Agenda for Cooperation 10 years later. Both China and the EU see eye to eye on a number of important world issues, such as implementing the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Agreement and pursuing the 2015 Iran nuclear deal. Trade in goods between the two had risen to record levels of over $1.68 billion a day, as of 2017. China is now the EU's second largest trading partner and the EU is China's largest. The European Economic Advisory Group, made up of leading economists, said Europe should seize the opportunities that are arising inside China, especially as its relationship with a historically reliable trading and security partner deteriorates. "The growth in the Chinese economy has generated new markets for European exports and sources of imports. China is presenting itself as a defender of multilateralism and a rules-based international order, while the United States is retreating into mercantilism, bilateral deals and tariff wars," the report said. EU-U.S. cracks Some of the differences in EU-U.S. policy initiatives were highlighted in the report, as the United States continues to act unilaterally in world affairs. "The United States has become an unreliable trading partner and strategic ally, with Donald Trump undermining NATO; unilaterally pulling the United States out of the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran; pressuring the EU on its military spending, trade and tariffs; imposing tariffs on steel, aluminum and automobiles; and making overtures to Russia's Vladimir Putin and North Korea's Kim Jong Un," the report said. Opposing positions continued a few days later at the Munich Security Conference, where U.S. Vice President Mike Pence called for the EU to unilaterally recognize Venezuelan congressional leader Juan Guaido as Venezuela's president without prior elections, something the EU and China both reject. Most recently, Trump blasted the EU over its trade relationship with the United States, threatening action if changes weren't forthcoming. "We are talking about trade with the EU. They've been very, very tough over the years. They were unwilling to negotiate with the [Barack] Obama administration and they were unwilling before that," Trump said at a press conference with Ireland's Prime Minister Leo Varadkar on March 14. "But they are willing to talk to us and if they don't talk to us, we're going to do something that is pretty severe economically. We are going to tariff a lot of their products coming in because the EU treats us very, very unfairly," he added. Proper name Confucius once said that the beginning of wisdom is to call things by their proper name, but it seems this wisdom has been lost on the EU. If China and the EU can see eye to eye on so many issues, how can they be labeled as competitors or rivals? In just over a week, the EU has described its relationship with China as cooperation partners, economic competitors, systematic rivals and the latest by Mogherini, "strategic partners." China, on the other hand, has been clear on how much it values its relationship with the EU, a point highlighted by the fact that Xi chose Europe as the destination of his first overseas trip in 2019. At last year's China-EU summit, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker described China and Europe's cooperation as one that "simply makes sense." It is important that Juncker remembers his own words and refers to China-EU relations by their proper name, "strategic partners." In this way, the comprehensive strategic partnership can continue to be more resilient and more dynamic than ever before. The author is an editorial writer for Cnfocus.com. The article was first published on the website Copyedited by Rebeca Toledo Comments to yulintao@bjreview.com |
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