Earlier, British media Reuters quoted European Commission Vice President Dombrovsky as reporting that China and the EU plan to hold a summit of China-EU leaders on April 1 this year to ease the growing tensions between the two sides and resolve the differences and contradictions that exist between them. An EU official revealed that due to the impact of the new crown epidemic, the meeting may still be held in the form of an online video conference.
Dombrovsky said that the current China-EU relationship is in a very complex state, and many problems cannot be repaired by themselves and need to be dealt with through high-level meetings. As for whether the situation in Russia and Ukraine, which has attracted the attention of the international community in the near future, will become the main topic of discussion at the China-EU leaders' summit, it is still uncertain. According to past practice, the bilateral relationship between China and the EU and the trade exchanges between the two sides are the top priority of the China-EU Leaders' Summit.
It is reported that the China-EU Summit is the highest-level political consultation mechanism between China and the EU, which began in January 1998. In October 2003, after the Sixth EU-China Summit, the two sides decided to develop into a comprehensive strategic partnership, which was upgraded to a high-level bilateral consultation mechanism covering political, economic, scientific and technological, humanities and other fields, with regular meetings.
According to statistics, since the first China-EU Leaders' Summit was held in January 1998, the two sides have held 22 meetings, the most recent of which was held in June 2020. Last year's China-EU Leaders' Summit was cancelled for some reason, on the one hand, the two sides focused on their respective COVID-19 epidemic prevention and control, and the meeting could not be put on the agenda; on the other hand, China-EU relations experienced sharp fluctuations, and even took a sharp turn. Under this state of affairs, even if the two sides meet, it is impossible to achieve real-time results.
However, since the beginning of this year, the tense relationship between the two sides seems to have shown a trend of relaxation, especially in the recent past, the leaders of China and the EU have begun to interact again. In mid-February this year, the leaders of China and France held telephone talks, and the two sides agreed to promote the successful holding of the China-EU Leaders' Summit and allow the China-EU Investment Agreement to be ratified and put into force as soon as possible.
Earlier this month, the leaders of China, France and Germany held another video summit, which was also the first summit of leaders held by German Chancellor Scholz since he took office. It has been learned that the leaders of the three countries focused on the issue of the situation in Russia and Ukraine at this meeting. Outside public opinion believes that under the background of the stalemate between the Russian-Ukrainian crisis, the leaders of France and Germany have held a meeting with the Chinese leaders in order to seek a way to bypass the United States and resolve the Russian-Ukrainian crisis.
At the meeting, China also expressed its support for the independence of France and Germany and the establishment of an effective European security mechanism. With france and Germany leading the way, most EU member states are supportive of holding a Summit of Leaders between China and the EU. However, some countries have tried to act as "churning sticks" to hinder the smooth holding of the China-EU leaders' summit.
According to Reuters reported on the 17th, on March 16, local time, Lithuanian Deputy Foreign Minister Adomenas, who was visiting Washington, D.C., shouted in an interview with the media that if China does not have a clear position on the situation between Russia and Ukraine, that is, either support Russia or side with Western countries, the EU should cancel the China-EU leaders' summit until China gives a clear answer.
Adomenas said that now is not the time to discuss the normalization of Sino-European relations, and it is impossible for China to support Russia's military action on the issue of the situation between Russia and Ukraine while at the same time wanting to benefit from Sino-European trade. It should be noted that in response to the so-called "China supports Russia's 'invasion' of Ukraine" hyped by the West, China has made clarifications on many occasions. Obviously, Adomenas was very dissatisfied with China, but the relationship between China and Lithuania deteriorated, the trade between the two countries was damaged, and the responsibility was entirely on Lithuania's side.
If it does not challenge the "one-China" principle and respect China's core interests, bilateral relations and economic and trade exchanges will continue to develop steadily. But now, instead of recognizing its mistake, Lithuania is trying to use the power of the United States and the European Union to pressure China to compromise and make concessions. However, Lithuania is unlikely to prevent the China-EU leaders' summit from being held as scheduled, after all, its influence and voice within the EU is very low, even negligible.
Even Adomenas recognizes that as a member of the European Union, Lithuania needs to do a lot of work to persuade other member states not to hold a summit of Chinese and European leaders, and the difficulty of it can be imagined. In the past two years, China-EU bilateral relations have indeed encountered some troubles, but with the existence of trade as a "stabilizer" and "ballast stone", China-EU relations are unlikely to deteriorate further.
According to the General Administration of Customs of China, the trade volume between China and the EU reached 828.59 billion US dollars in 2021, an increase of 27.2% year-on-year, a record high, and the "quantity" and "quality" of bilateral trade have steadily improved. A sound EU-China relationship is in the common interest of both sides and is what most EU member states aspire to. A mere Lithuanian attempt to undermine the overall situation of Sino-European relations is tantamount to using a praying mantis arm as a car.