Grow wary of China

After Russia debacle, EU leaders grow wary of China

Beijing’s ‘hostile behavior’ warrants EU reevaluation, Belgian PM Alexander De Croo says.

BY STUART LAU

“Hostile,” “authoritarian” and “fierce competitor” are some of the new descriptions that EU leaders used to describe China, with a strategic discussion on EU-China relations under way in the European Council on Friday.

While there won't be any formal conclusion on China, the fact that the EU leaders agreed to discuss China — just a day before President Xi Jinping's expected ascent to a third term in a show of his firm grip of power in Beijing — shows the increasing worry that Europe has about what it calls a systemic rival.

The hardening tone, according to Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin, is a direct result of Europe’s awakening caused by the Russian war on Ukraine.

“I’m waiting for the strategic discussion on China. I think it’s a very important one, we should discuss more about European dependencies, especially when it comes to new technologies or knowledge,” she said, moments before walking into the meeting.

“We are now seeing how problematic it is that we are so dependent on Russian energy, and Russia is using energy as a weapon against Europe. So I think it’s very important that we discuss China today,” she added.

“When we are talking about the strategic autonomy, technology is a key issue here. And we shouldn't be dependent on authoritarian regimes on critical issues such as technologies,” Marin said.

Her Belgian counterpart, Alexander De Croo, called for a rethink of the overall relationship between the EU and Beijing.

“On certain topics China is a partner, such as climate change. On some domains it’s a competitor — it’s a fierce competitor. On some domains we also see that they have hostile behavior. The whole question is: Do we evaluate well in which domains what type of relationship we have?” De Croo said. “And in the past, I think we’ve been a bit too complacent as European countries. I think over the past months we’ve understood that in a lot of pure economic domains, geopolitics also plays … a role.”

Baltic countries, meanwhile, are skeptical about German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s plan for a solo trip to China next month.

“China is best dealt with when we are 27, not when we are … one on one, vis-à-vis China,” said Krišjānis Kariņš, the Latvian prime minister. His Estonian counterpart Kaja Kallas toed a similar line: “My message on China is that we should be dealing with China with the 27+1 format. We are strong when we are united talking to big powers.”

Apart from his Beijing trip — on which he also plans to bring a business delegation — Scholz is also under domestic pressure for preparing to overrule six of his ministries' opposition to a proposed deal by China's state-run Cosco shipping giant to acquire a share of the Hamburg port.