In recent times, China-EU relations have shown a sensitive and complex side. On the one hand, china and the EU have frequently interacted with each other, and many European leaders have made positive statements on China-EU relations. French President Emmanuel Macron said that the French side is firmly committed to promoting the development of EU-China relations in a constructive manner; Greek Prime Minister Mitsotakis said that the Greek side attaches great importance to the development of relations with China and never agrees with the anti-China and "China-fear" arguments in the world. These remarks are undoubtedly of positive significance to the in-depth development of China-EU relations.
On October 29, the first "China-Europe Express - Jinbo" train arrived in Shanghai. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Ding Ting
On the other hand, since the beginning of this year, on human rights, Hong Kong-related, Xinjiang-related, Taiwan-related issues, and other issues, some European politicians have repeatedly made inappropriate remarks and deeds, undermining sino-European mutual trust, friendship, and pragmatic cooperation.
What is the deeper mentality in Europe today? How to judge the future trend of China-EU relations? A Xinhua reporter recently interviewed Jian Junbo, an associate researcher at the Center for China-EU Relations at Fudan University.
At the EU headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, European Council President Michel attends the EU summit on October 21. Xinhua News Agency (Photo courtesy of eu)
Q: In the context of the US strategic competition with China, what is the mentality of the EU as an important pole in the world?
A: The basic mentality of the EU at present is that it "does not want to choose a side between China and the United States" and hopes to formulate policies "independently and autonomously".
Since 2017, the EU has taken the pursuit of strategic autonomy as an important strategic direction for integration. Some European dignitaries and scholars believe that the damage caused by former US President Trump to the traditional alliance between Europe and the United States is irreversible, and that the relationship between Europe and the United States has actually been estranged since the Obama era. As the US Biden administration continues to implement its strategy to move eastward, the world returns to the era of great power game, and the EU cannot continue to be naïve and pursues a path of independence and self-determination. The latest proof is that European Council President Michel has publicly stated at an informal meeting of EU leaders that in order to appear more effective and confident in the international arena, the EU needs to strengthen its ability to act independently.
At the practical level, the EU is promoting "independence" at all levels, such as promoting "permanent structural cooperation" in the field of national defense and setting up an EU defense fund; economically promoting the return of the industrial chain and reducing dependence on foreign economic and trade; and emphasizing human rights and the rule of law in terms of values.
However, the "independence" of the EU should be viewed dialectically. Based on the similarity with the American ideology and the dependence on the United States in defense, Europe's "independence" will be limited for a long time. Especially in terms of defense autonomy, although Europe has some active promotion, it cannot meet the two expenditures of NATO military expenditure and independent European defense expenditure at the same time, and it is difficult to have a substantive breakthrough in the short term in the construction of armament technology research and development and defense system. Europe, which has no defense autonomy, will inevitably become a "dwarf" dependent on the United States on some political issues.
This is the scene of the EU summit filmed at the EU headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, on October 21. Xinhua News Agency (Photo courtesy of eu)
Q: What is the difference between the EU's "rule of three points" toward China and the United States?
A: Although Europe and the United States are all "three-point methods" for China, in the "three-point method" positioning of the European Union, cooperation is still the mainstream, which is obviously different from the United States' focus on confrontation with China.
From the perspective of timeline, the EU used the "three-point method" to position China earlier than the United States, and it is not excluded that the United States borrowed the European method when adopting the positioning of "confrontation, competition and cooperation" with China, but there is a clear difference in tone between the two.
On the one hand, in terms of expression, when eu officials talk about the "rule of thirds", they generally use the order of "cooperation-competition-confrontation", which shows that cooperation is the focus of the EU's China policy.
On the other hand, there are also differences in specific matters, and the "Indo-Pacific Strategy" in Europe and the United States is a typical case. Although the "Indo-Pacific Strategy" launched by the EUROPEAN Union in September has a side of competition and confrontation with China, it also pays more attention to regional governance and economic and trade cooperation, and clarifies the possibility of cooperation with China in addressing climate change, environmental protection, marine research, etc. The overall tone is relatively peaceful compared with the US version of the "Indo-Pacific Strategy", and the color of direct military confrontation with China is weaker. It should be emphasized that the EU in the Indo-Pacific region not only focuses on competing with China, but also has the will to compete with the United States and other Western countries, not to be willing to lag behind other Western countries, and will not completely follow the United States.
European Commission President von der Leyen holds a press conference in Brussels, Belgium, on October 28 on the G20 Leaders' Summit in Italy and the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Zheng Huansong
Q: With the recent increase in high-level interaction between China and the United States, will the EU's China policy be adjusted as a result?
A: The United States is still very tough on China on issues such as the South China Sea and Taiwan, and even tougher, but on economic and trade issues, its attitude has eased somewhat because it wants China. In order to maintain the balance of EU-China, EU-US relations, it is bound to delicately adjust its relations with China. On the one hand, the EU has no intention of engaging in all-round confrontation with China, on the other hand, it needs to maintain a "no-side" stance and safeguard the EU's interests in the Chinese market, and ensure that it will not fall behind when competing with the United States and other Western countries in the Chinese market. In addition, the EU needs to cooperate with China on climate change, biodiversity maintenance, peacekeeping, and the resolution of regional hotspot issues such as Afghanistan.
But on political or values issues, the EU is still likely to take a tougher stance toward China. This not only includes possible deepening interference in matters such as Chinese rights, ethnic minorities, and Hong Kong and Taiwan, but also incorporates political factors into economic and trade relations, including strengthening security censorship in the field of Chinese investment in Europe, human rights and environmental due diligence of Chinese products, etc.
French President Emmanuel Macron, right, attends an EU summit with German Chancellor Angela Merkel at the EU headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, on October 21. Xinhua News Agency (Photo courtesy of eu)
Q: The United States does not discuss the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan with its allies, and the United States, Britain, and Australia will not hesitate to carry out nuclear submarine cooperation at the expense of France's interests.
A: These two events have seriously damaged Europe's trust in the United States and done great harm to the so-called "normalization" process of European-US relations, but they will not fundamentally damage the transatlantic alliance.
The EU deeply feels the inferiority and unreliability of the United States from these two things: declining strength, unreliability at critical moments, choosing only "America first" in the face of interests, putting the selfish interests of the Anglo-Saxon circle above the interests of the European continent, and so on. These feelings have all pushed Europe to pursue independence more firmly. However, based on the difficulty of strategic autonomy and the existence of entrenched political and security alliances between Europe and the United States, the inherent nature of Franco-American relations and European-American relations will not change. (Reporters: Han Bing, Guo Yuqi; Editors: Sun Ping, Jin Zheng, Tang Zhiqiang)