As China-EU ties regress, Brussels’ envoy asks: are we back in the Mao era?

Nicolas Chapuis picks up on the phrase ‘evil spirits and ghosts’, used by Communist Party mouthpiece about challenges to China’s development
He compares the hostile tone to ‘niugui sheshen’, a phrase made popular by Mao Zedong, notably during the Cultural Revolution

China-EU relations

Kinling Loin Beijing

Published: 5:50pm, 9 Dec 2021

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The European Union’s top envoy to Beijing has warned that China is adopting a hostility towards the West that is comparable to the Mao era, amid souring ties with Europe.

Speaking at a reception for journalists held by the EU embassy in Beijing on Thursday, Nicolas Chapuis noted the tough language used by China to define its situation, and referred to an article by Communist Party mouthpiece People’s Daily that said China would continue its development despite “evil spirits and ghosts”.

Chapuis compared the phrase to one used widely in the time of former Chinese leader Mao Zedong, to refer to people the authorities deemed unwelcome.

“I do not recall in 42 years of my diplomatic career in China such language being used,” he said. “Are we back to niugui sheshen?”

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The phrase “niugui sheshen”, which translates as “ox demons and snake spirits”, was made popular by Mao, especially when intellectuals and elites were targeted during the Cultural Revolution – a decade of political turmoil begun by Mao in 1966 that lasted until his death.

Holder of a doctoral degree in Chinese studies, Chapuis has served in a handful of diplomatic roles in China since 1980, first for France and later for the EU.

He was quoting a People’s Daily article published on Tuesday, written by “the party committee of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs”.

Chapuis read an entire passage from the article: “It is time for China to cast aside illusions, have the courage to struggle, never purge principles, never give up an inch of land. We will carry forward the spirit of not believing in evil spirits and ghosts, fight to the end with all strength those who intend to subvert the leadership of the Communist Party of China and China’s socialist system, delay or even block the great rejuvenation process of the Chinese nation and safeguard national sovereignty, security and development interests.”

Other lines, addressing China’s stance regarding “external pressure” – a common reference to an increasing divide with the West – repeated word for word part of a resolution passed during last month’s party plenum.

The passing of a rare “historical resolution” at that meeting – arguably the party’s most significant political event of the year and attended by 300 elite party officials – enshrined President Xi Jinping’s role as leader on a par with Mao and Deng Xiaoping, under whom the only two previous such resolutions had been passed.

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Under Xi’s leadership, Beijing has also adopted a more hardline diplomatic stance on issues viewed as encroaching on its “core interests”, such as territorial integrity and national security.

Chapuis, the EU’s ambassador to China since 2018, also expressed frustration with issues in China ranging from freedom of information to Covid-19 control policies to the trade and business environment.

“More and more voices in China question whether the zero-Covid policy, dynamic or not, is sustainable,” he said.

“Further Chinese coercive measures have taken place against individual European businesses and most recently against one of our member states,” he said. “We see increased concerns about China’s respect for the rule-based international order. I am told that this is our own making.”

Sino-EU ties have continued to plunge after the stalling of the EU-China Comprehensive Agreement on Investment, signed last December. In a series of tit-for-tat exchanges, the European Parliament halted ratification of the deal following Beijing’s retaliation against EU lawmakers for EU, UK and US sanctions against Chinese officials accused of mass detentions of Uygurs in western China’s Xinjiang region.

Another recent dispute stemmed from Lithuania’s efforts to expand ties with self-governing Taiwan, which Beijing considers a rogue province.

The EU has threatened China with a World Trade Organization lawsuit if reports of an embargo on Lithuania’s exports to and imports from China prove accurate.

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