On Thursday, local time, US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman and EU Outward Action Agency Secretary-General Stefano Sannino met in Washington to co-chair the second meeting of the "US-EU-China Dialogue".
Even before the joint statement was released, officials had already made noise through the media. Both the British Reuters news agency and the US "Capitol Hill" reported that the United States and Europe will issue a "strong" joint statement after the meeting.
Today we also saw the relevant statement.
"The relationship between the United States and the European Union with China is multifaceted." The joint statement issued by the U.S. State Department stressed that the two sides should continue to maintain close ties in their actions toward China while investing in their own economies, and work with China where possible to manage competition and systemic confrontation with China in a responsible manner. It can be seen that the United States and Europe are constantly emphasizing "intersection".
This dialogue is the second "China Dialogue" between the United States and Europe since the Biden administration took office. On May 26, 2021, Sherman and Sonnyo held their first high-level dialogue on China in Brussels and pledged to continue close consultations on China.
Does the joint statement represent the beginning of a unanimous response between Europe and the United States toward China?
Previously, although Biden took office and tried to create a positive image of "America is back" and tried to reunite his European allies again through human rights, values and other means, many reports pointed out that European leaders were inevitably skeptical at first.
In February, French President Emmanuel Macron said that even if the United States and Europe share more similar values, the European Union should not ally with the United States. POLITICO reported at the time that Macron said in English on a radio program that "uniting against China is more likely to provoke a fierce confrontation, which I think will be counterproductive." ”
AXIOS pointed out that the EU's two largest trading partners are China and the United States, so the European side does not essentially want the two countries to fall into confrontation. Does the emergence of this joint statement represent a shift within Europe? The US media quoted senior US officials attending the meeting as saying that the United States and the European Union have increasingly consistent views on the so-called "threat" posed by China. Some outside analysts believe that the joint statement does show signs that the United States and Europe have "approached" in their actions toward China, but it does not mean that the two sides are "going in sync" in terms of their understanding of China and their strategies toward China.
Shenzhen Satellite TV direct news noted that many European media have also questioned whether there can be an agreement within the EU, and pointed out that some EU countries do not want to take an excessively tough stance on china posture. The BBC quoted analysts as saying that Europe in general is more cautious in handling relations with China, and some EU powers believe that it is more important to maintain good cooperation channels with China.
But in any case, the EU's attitude towards further positioning China as a "systemic adversary" has gradually become clear. The U.S.-EU dialogue preceded Europe's €300 billion Global Gateway infrastructure initiative, which is also seen as countering China's Belt and Road Initiative. In addition, the expression "systemic opponent" was also included in the joint statement of the US-EU dialogue.
"There is a certain degree of competition in international relations, but we cannot define the whole picture of state-to-state relations by competition or opponents, let alone damage the sovereignty of other countries in the name of competition, interfere in the internal affairs of other countries, and even openly join forces to curb and suppress specific countries," Zhao Lijian also specifically pointed out the "Cold War" logic behind it at today's (3rd) press conference. Zhao Lijian said that the Cold War mentality should have been abandoned long ago, the haze of the Cold War should have been dispelled long ago, and all parties should conform to the common aspirations and trend of the times of the people of all countries in pursuing win-win cooperation, adhere to open cooperation and dialogue and consultation, and inject more stability and positive energy into the world, rather than turning back history and resurrecting the ghost of the Cold War.
It is worth pointing out that the joint statement of the US-EU dialogue covers a wide range of scope, and different media also have their own emphases in the process of reporting. Deutsche Welle, with the Taiwan-related content of the joint statement as the headline, specifically pointed out that the United States and Europe have expressed strong concerns about China's "unilateral problematic acts" in the South China Sea, the East China Sea and the Taiwan Strait. France and Guangzhou put more emphasis on the "consensus" reached by the United States and Europe on human rights. In addition, some US media are focusing on the increasing "consistency" between the United States and Europe. It can be seen that different media, or media in different countries, also have different views on the "focus" of the joint statement.
How to observe the outcome of the Democracy Summit through the Joint Statement?
When it comes to the joint statement on human rights and values, we can't help but think of the so-called "Global Democracy Summit" to be held on December 9. As an important target of the Biden administration's "values diplomacy", the vast majority of EU countries have been invited to participate.
For some time now, the outside world has fully expressed doubts about the "democratic summit" that the United States has vigorously promoted. Germany's "Daily Mirror" published a comment that the United States hopes to use this meeting to counter China, which may not be worthy of the name, and directly criticized the INVITATION list of the United States as too "watching people on the dishes". The FT Chinese network has commented that it is difficult for a conference with as many as 110 countries and regions to reach a consensus conclusion, let alone achieve the purpose of countering China.
At the Dec. 1 meeting of EU ambassadors, Hungary opposed the EU's joint participation in next Thursday's U.S. Democracy Summit, Bloomberg reported. And, given that Hungary is the only EU country not invited at the so-called "democracy summit," Hungarian government officials point out that under the EU diplomatic treaty, the EU cannot have a common position if Hungary does not participate in the meeting. At the eu ambassadorial meeting, Hungary also criticized the democratic situation in the United States.
On the other hand, how the Participating European countries interact with the United States during the summit is still worthy of great attention. After all, historically, these European countries have had more "intersections" with the United States in the field of values, and they are also the object of the Biden administration's efforts.
It is worth pointing out that "whether to boycott the Beijing Winter Olympics" seems to have become the focus of discussions on "human rights", "democracy" and "values" for several days. The US media has repeatedly reported that the Biden administration may announce that US government officials will not attend the Winter Olympics in response to China's so-called "human rights violations". Subsequently, the British side also released a rumor that the members of the "Five Eyes Alliance" are also considering the so-called "diplomatic boycott". However, some British media pointed out that Prime Minister Johnson personally does not advocate this behavior. For Germany, German prospective foreign minister Berberk, from the Green Party, pledged on Wednesday (Dec. 1) that he would adopt a "dialogue and tough stance" in dealing with China and that "the possibility of a boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympics will not be ruled out."
Moreover, at present, the opening of the Beijing Winter Olympics is getting closer and closer, and whether the so-called "Global Democracy Summit" will become a platform for some countries to express their positions has aroused speculation and concern from the outside world.
In any case, China's position is very clear. In view of the so-called "democracy summit", the Chinese side believes that the so-called "democracy summit" held by the United States is to undermine democracy in the name of democracy. In response to the so-called "boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympics on the grounds of human rights", China has always stressed that the protagonists of the Beijing Winter Olympics are athletes from all over the world, and the performance of relevant countries in linking sports with politics is a violation of the Olympic spirit and will inevitably be opposed by the people of the world.
The author 丨 Zhu Endi, Shenzhen Satellite TV direct news reporter in Beijing