Today at 14:18
High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell called on the EU countries to reconsider the strategy of interaction with China due to its growing influence in the world. This is reported by the Financial Times. The European politician emphasizes that many developing countries see China as a counterbalance to the West. In this regard, Borrell calls on the EU countries to find a new approach to interaction with Beijing that would meet the growing nationalism of China and the tightening of its competition with the United States, FREEDOM reports.
The European Union in relations with China has so far maintained a balance between three categories: partner, competitor and rival. But in connection with Beijing’s more aggressive foreign policy, Brussels intends to adjust the existing strategy – now more priority will be given to rivalry. As the Financial Times writes, the head of European diplomacy sent a letter with a corresponding proposal to the foreign ministers of the EU countries.
“Chinese ambitions are clearly aimed at building a new world order with China at the center. Russia’s defeat in Ukraine will not derail China’s trajectory. China will be able to extract a geopolitical advantage from this, ”the Financial Times quotes Borrell.
“The fact of talking about the need to tighten the strategy is indeed a very serious signal for Beijing, to which it must respond and, in fact, already decide how to proceed further in the international arena,” comments the candidate of political sciences, expert – international affairs officer Stanislav Zhelikhovsky.
The main reason for the revision by the European Union of relations with China was the pro-Russian-neutral, as Borrell put it, the position of the Celestial Empire regarding Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Beijing deliberately opposes itself to the West in this matter, which makes it a geopolitical center for those countries that are reluctant to support sanctions against Russia or are dissatisfied with the current world order.
“And China now has this blackmail card not only for the European Union, but also for the collective West. Regarding the possibility of even deeper cooperation with the Russian Federation, perhaps even in the military sphere, China is still using this card, this blackmail as one of the most serious tools of influence on Western partners, ”says Bogdan Ferens, Candidate of Political Sciences, international expert.
At the same time, the European Union, one of China’s main trading partners, is making it clear to Beijing that economic cooperation is only possible if Chinese policy is predictable and constructive. Thus, Brussels is trying to keep China from taking sharp steps towards Russia, experts say.
“If China behaves more aggressively, if cooperation with Russia intensifies and, for example, there is some information that China supplies weapons to Russia, this will directly affect relations with the European Union. And then they will definitely not have a partnership with China, but most likely, the confrontation will intensify, ”Ferens notes.
To develop a “cautious” strategy for relations with China, the European Union will begin next month. However, discussions will start earlier: it is necessary to take into account the interest of all 27 EU member states. After all, the decision will be made by consensus, and the new strategy will become the main one for each national government.
Earlier, an expert on international relations, People’s Deputy of Ukraine of the VI convocation, Yevhen Dobryak, expressed the opinion that China should make every effort to ensure that the Russian Federation withdraws its troops from Ukraine to the 1991 borders. After a conversation between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, such an outcome has become more likely.
