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China-EU relations
ChinaDiplomacy

China’s Wang Yi calls on EU to be calm and rational as he meets Irish foreign minister

  • Europe should have ‘objective and comprehensive understanding of China’s development stage’, Chinese foreign minister tells counterpart Simon Coveney
  • Ireland is a stable force in the EU, Wang says, amid strained relations between the bloc and Beijing

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Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney (left) meets Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in Guizhou on Sunday. Photo: Xinhua
Amber Wangin Beijing
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has called on the European Union to handle its dealings with China more calmly, and on Ireland to be a stabilising influence in the deteriorating relationship.
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Wang made the remarks in a meeting on Sunday with his Irish counterpart Simon Coveney in China’s southern province of Guizhou, where Wang has also since Saturday met foreign ministers from Poland, Serbia and Hungary.

The meetings represented the first face-to-face engagements with China for each of the European nations’ ministers since the European Parliament voted overwhelmingly to freeze ratification of the EU-China Comprehensive Agreement on Investment (CAI).

During the talks with Coveney, Wang said China and the EU were comprehensive strategic partners rather than rivals, according to a Chinese foreign ministry statement on Monday.

03:36

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Wang hit out at the “so-called rules” formulated by Western nations, saying that they did not represent true multilateralism.

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“We should not be afraid of differences,” Wang said. “It is possible to enhance understanding … and distinguish right from wrong through equal dialogue.

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