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EU leaders talk tough to Beijing over long list of unmet promises
- European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen says EU-China relationship ‘not an easy one’ after first meeting
- Points finger at Chinese for cyberattacks, disinformation campaigns and warns of negative consequences over Hong Kong security law
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When Ursula von der Leyen sat in front of web cameras at the European Commission’s building in Brussels on Monday, it appears she had decided there was no room for weakness with the Chinese leaders she was about to meet for the first time.
As she and European Council President Charles Michel took to the press podium after the two long summit calls – first with Premier Li Keqiang and then with President Xi Jinping – von der Leyen laid out her tactics: identify areas of cooperation, before combing through the ways China had under-delivered on its promises, one by one.
The list was long, ranging from bilateral investment through World Trade Organisation reforms to climate change targets. That was on top of irreconcilable differences over issues such as Hong Kong’s national security law, human rights, and disinformation campaigns attributable to Chinese cyber activities.
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“The relationship between the EU and China is simultaneously one of the most strategically important and one of the most challenging that we have,” said von der Leyen, apparently unmoved by Xi’s charm offensive, at the news conference, adding that the relationship with China was “not an easy one”.
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She pointed the finger at China for “cyberattacks on computing systems, on hospitals”, adding sternly that “we know the origin of the cyberattacks”.
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