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The European Union and China will celebrate their 23rd bilateral summit on Friday in what will be one of the coldest in history, not least because it takes place by videoconference.There will be no joint press conference Ursula Von der Leyen and Charles Michel Xi Jinping. No concrete agreement is expected. No one even tried to negotiate a humble joint statement between Brussels and Beijing, in these cases as usual.
The President of the European Commission and the European Council will go all out to convince the Chinese President Putting pressure on Vladimir Putin stop the war on ukraine now. “The two heads of state will call on President Xi Jinping to use Chinese influence to try to end hostilities‘ explained a senior EU diplomat.
Von der Leyen and Michel would argue Beijing has no interest in conflicts that could sink the world economyChina’s prosperity and the survival of Xi Jinping’s regime also depend on it, as he faces a major appointment at the National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party at the end of the year. The conflict also threatens the global stability on which Beijing underpins its rise and questions basic principles such as territorial integrity, which could turn against China and its claims to Taiwan.
“President Xi Jinping hopes to be re-elected at the October Congress, where he wants to promise stability, growth and new opportunities for his society, which has been stable in recent decades, and a promise of a better life for each new generation. .compared to the previous one. Do you want to put this at risk?‘, noted another community official.
However, Europeans thought the battle was lost even before the battle. In early February, just before the war broke out, the Chinese president signed an alliance with Putin, who is unlikely to turn against him now.Indeed, European leaders are content with assurances that Beijing will not lend The Kremlin has no economic or military supportnor will it help it bypass Western sanctions.
Will sanctions be imposed on Beijing?
“It’s no secret China has been balancing And has always maintained a position that is in line with its own interests. This is unlikely to fundamentally change. We are interested in making sure that this balanced position doesn’t turn out to be beyond the public support we’ve seen so far,” the senior diplomat conceded.
What will happen if Beijing finally abandons its current “neutrality” to send arms to Russia or help offset the impact of Western sanctions? Will the EU take any form of retaliatory action against China? “I don’t think it’s appropriate to speculate in detail on these issues. There is still room for a diplomatic argument that we believe it is in China’s interest to assist (Moscow) in evading sanctions. “
“Any financial support for this war, any arms supply to Russia, will undermine global efforts to achieve peace, will lead to more civilian losses and more economic problems. These actions will damage China’s international reputation.will affect Chinese companies and Chinese banks, and their models based on ensuring the prosperity of their citizens,” the senior diplomat concluded.
The European Parliament went further, insisting that China’s support for Russia must have “consequences”, although it did not specify what. “We recognize the strategic importance of the EU-China relationship. However, any Chinese support for Russia must have an impact on the EU-China relationship. Therefore, EU should ask China to use its influence constructively and responsiblysaid David McAllister, chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee.
worsening relationship
“Brussels and European countries are desperate for China to limit support for Russia. After the invasion of Ukraine, there will be help to end the war. Those hopes have now been dashed, and future EU-China relations will be even more tense. ” Janka Oertel, Asia Program Director European Council on Foreign Relations.
The frustration and frustration with Beijing’s attitude can be seen in the arguments of community officials.In Brussels, they assert EU is China’s main trading partner, as it absorbed 13.7% of exports. In contrast, Sino-Russian trade volume only accounts for 2.4%.
EU-China relations have reached Highs at the start of Donald Trump’s term as the President of the United States. In the face of Trump’s disdain and isolationism, Xi is running as an alternative partner on central European issues such as climate change. In December 2020, Brussels and Beijing signed an investment agreement aimed at cementing the alliance, but relations have since gone into free fall.
In March 2021, the EU approved the first sanctions against China in 30 years, albeit symbolic and modest in scope: Banning and freezing accounts Four Chinese leaders and one entity human rights violations Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang. Beijing retaliated against several MEPs and national MPs, have effectively frozen the European Parliament’s ratification of investment pacts.
In addition, the Xi regime has made no progress in removing trade barriers to European companies operating in China, nor has it ratified the ILO conventions it promised.The latest incident of conflict is Beijing’s rejection of Lithuanian products as punishment for Vilnius opening Taiwanese diplomatic missions abroad, the territory claimed by China. The EU has referred the case to the World Trade Organization.
Brussels is particularly concerned about the Chinese president’s alliance with Putin in early February, which calls into question “China’s long-term intentions for a rules-based international order”.