Greece still sees China as more of a partner than a rival, ambassador to Beijing says
- Georgios Iliopoulos says that Athens still wants to focus on cooperation with Beijing, which is a key investor in the port of Piraeus
- EU is taking a tougher approach to China, which it has described as a ‘systemic rival’, but diplomat says bloc does not want antagonism
Greece sees China as a partner, the country’s ambassador in Beijing has said, despite the EU’s description of it as a “systemic rival”.
Georgios Iliopoulos, who arrived in China in December, said the European Union does not want to be caught in the crossfire of the spiralling rivalry between China and the US, adding that the world should accept China’s rise and its quest for a bigger role on the world stage.
But the EU has taken an increasingly tough stance towards China and last year included the description of it as a systemic rival in a policy document that also described it as an “economic competitor”.
But Iliopoulos said the EU does not want to be antagonistic to China and that Greece still considers China – which is working with it to develop the port of Piraeus – as a partner.
“We prefer not to focus too much on [the notion of rivalry or competition], and we prefer to focus on the partnership and the cooperation part,” the Greek diplomat told the South China Morning Post.
“In Greece, we have found that we can work with China,” he said.
“And our approach is to strengthen the partnership dimension of our relations with China, and in essence every country is partnering with China.”