EU foreign ministers will gather on Friday to discuss how to reduce Europe’s dependency on China while also persuading Beijing to take a harsher position on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Brussels is pressing the European Union’s 27 member states to agree on how to deal with China as a more aggressive Beijing asserts its influence on the global arena.
In a speech to the European Parliament this week, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz conceded that ties were deteriorating because “rivalry and competition on the side of China have certainly increased.”
He supported demands for “smart de-risking” by reducing Europe’s reliance on China for essential resources, but there is no willingness to cut all connections with the world’s second-largest economy.
“There is a desire to avoid confrontation with China, even if disputes are multiplying,” said Elvire Fabry from the Jacques Delors Institute think tank.
The most important of these conflicts is China’s failure to denounce its close friend Russia’s invasion of Ukraine or to put pressure on Moscow to cease the attack.
Brussels has outraged Beijing by proposing a ban on critical technology exports to eight Chinese enterprises accused of transferring it to Russia.
During a trip to Europe this week, Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang warned that if the EU imposed penalties, Beijing would take the “necessary response.”
In Berlin, Qin clashed over Ukraine with German counterpart Annalena Baerbock, who insisted China’s proclaimed “neutrality means taking the side of the aggressor”.
French foreign minister Catherine Colonna sought to soften the tone when she met Qin by insisting China had an important role to play for “global peace and stability” in efforts to mediate.
Partner, competitor or rival?
On a trip to China last month, French President Emmanuel Macron opened up EU fissures by saying Europe should not automatically follow US policy on Taiwan and should avoid “crises that aren’t ours”.
That stirred fierce criticism from some other European allies, which see the United States as a security guarantor against Russia.
Friday’s meeting of foreign ministers in Stockholm is not meant to reach any concrete conclusions. But the hope is the talks can help nudge the EU towards greater unity in its ongoing efforts to grapple with the challenges posed by Beijing.
“The important thing is not to prevent China from becoming a world power, it is to manage how China will use this power,” EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on Thursday.
Currently, the EU officially categorises China as simultaneously a partner, competitor and rival, and there is no plan to tear up that approach.
But EU officials say the emphasis could now move increasingly to managing the rivalry rather than working together.
The EU ministers will follow up their China discussion with a meeting on Saturday with counterparts from the Asia-Pacific region.
Beijing will once again be the elephant in the room as talks turn to security issues, including tensions in the Taiwan Strait.
But a senior EU official said the meeting would be above all about “building partnerships”.
“There is no question of seeking an alignment between the participants against Russia during this meeting and we must maintain the status quo between China and Taiwan to avoid an escalation,” he said.
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