Ambassador Zhang Ming on China-EU relations: There is no reason for each other to be rivals

According to the WeChat public account of the Chinese mission to the European Union, on November 10, 2021, Ambassador Zhang Ming, head of the Chinese mission to the European Union, was interviewed by Sam Fleming, director of the Brussels bureau of the Financial Times, and journalist Andy Bounds. Some of the transcripts are as follows:

FT: Obviously, if you talk to the MEMBERS of the European Parliament on this [referring to the shelving of the China-EU investment agreement], you will find that their views are very different. They will say that the obstruction of the approval process is not caused by the European side but by the Chinese side. They believe that under the circumstance that China imposes sanctions on members of the European Parliament and its subordinate committees, it is completely impossible to continue to promote the process of ratifying the treaty. So I wonder, in addition to calling on the European side to take action, what else is China willing to do to break the deadlock?

Zhang Ming: There has been no change in China's attitude towards this document, and since this document was reached to this day, the relevant Departments of the Chinese side have been actively making relevant preparations for the final approval of the agreement in terms of law and writing. It can be said that there is no obstacle on the Chinese side, and the current obstacle is on the side of the European side.

Turning to the issue of sanctions, this one occurred six months ago. The sanctions were unilaterally initiated by the European side and are actually a unilateral operation without any basis in international law. Regarding the matters and people targeted by the sanctions, the European side has not communicated with the Chinese side and has not come up with tangible evidence. Therefore, China believes that such sanctions are unacceptable. We have consistently opposed similar unilateral sanctions, as they have no basis in international law.

There are not no problems and differences between China and Europe. For decades, the two sides have had a very mature approach to solving problems through communication. It cannot be resolved for a while, and differences can be managed well, but unilateral bullying and coercive behavior cannot be resorted to at every turn.

I think this sanctions incident could have been avoided. I remember that in February and March of this year, before the sanctions, the Chinese side did a lot of hard work in Brussels, in Beijing, in the capitals of EU member states, with the aim of persuading EU partners to return to communication channels to resolve their differences, rather than resorting to unilateral means. Unfortunately, however, the European partners did not listen to it and resorted to such an unwarranted approach.

China-EU relations have developed for more than 40 years, from a small size to today's bilateral relations with global influence, rich content and benefiting the peoples of both sides, and have accumulated rich experience. Since we can follow this mature approach to promote the development of bilateral relations and manage differences, why should we resort to such confrontational means? Arguably, this is the first time this has happened between Central Europe and China in more than 30 years after the Cold War, so I think it shouldn't have happened.

The reason for this may be traced back to the China policy document issued by the European side in March 2019. It has given China-EU relations a new orientation as partners, competitors and institutional rivals. China has always disagreed with this positioning, because treating partners as opponents will inevitably cause major problems in cooperation between the two sides. In fact, the European partners can calm down and reflect on it, this new triple positioning has been introduced for nearly three years, what has it brought to China-EU relations? What does it bring to Europe's own interests? And what does it bring to our world?

As an important force in the international community, China and the EU have a hundred reasons to cooperate and become partners, and none of them are rivals to each other. If you treat people as partners, it will be a win-win situation and bring benefits to the whole world. If you treat people as opponents, the result is a lose-lose situation, which will also bring damage to the world.

In short, I think it is a mistake for the European side to launch sanctions against China. China's willingness to promote the development of China-EU relations has not changed, nor has its attitude towards the document of the China-EU Investment Agreement, and it is willing to work with the European side to actively explore ways to approve the treaty as soon as possible.

Source: Overseas Network