China-EU relations: Beijing urges both sides to repair damaged ties and ‘eliminate interference’
- Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi tells his EU counterpart Josep Borrell China and the EU have no major conflict or geopolitical struggle
- The Chinese mission to the EU said China opposed politicising sport after the European Parliament suggested boycotting the Beijing Winter Olympics
According to a statement released by the Chinese foreign ministry, Wang said China and the European Union needed to send positive signals to repair the relationship.
The Chinese statement said Borrell told Wang he did not agree with imposing unilateral sanctions on other countries, and while Europe would stick to its values, it did not support “Hong Kong independence”.
The EU readout said Borrell had been invited to China by Wang and that the EU‘s top diplomat had “expressed readiness to hold the regular EU-China strategic dialogue in the early autumn and emphasised the importance of resuming the EU-China human rights dialogue that is pending since 2019”.
Borrell “expressed his conviction that EU-China engagement remains essential and that channels of communication need to remain open”, said the statement.
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Wang reassured Borrell there was no “major conflict [or] geopolitical struggle” between China and the EU, and said both sides should stick to cooperation and dialogue.
“The two sides should establish correct mutual understanding, eliminate interference from all sides and promote the healthy and stable development of China-EU relations along the right track,” Wang said, according to the statement.
“China supports the European side in enhancing strategic autonomy and maintaining independence in developing relations and cooperation with China.”
“Both sides should give play to the leading role of the China-EU high-level exchange mechanism, release positive signals, increase confidence in China-EU relations,” Wang said.
China and the EU wrapped up a seven-year negotiation on a major investment treaty in December, a development Beijing touted as a highlight of China-EU cooperation despite Washington applying pressure to its allies to encourage a tougher approach towards Beijing.
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Officials from the US, Europe and Japan have also accused Beijing of undermining Hong Kong’s autonomy, citing the closure of Apple Daily as a worrying suppression of freedom of speech. Beijing has rejected that concern.
Following the European Parliament call for an Olympic boycott, a spokesman for the Chinese mission to the EU said China firmly opposed the politicisation of sports.
“Politically driven attempts to disrupt, obstruct and sabotage the preparation and holding of the Beijing Winter Olympics are extremely irresponsible,” the spokesman said.
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Wang Yiwei, a professor of European studies with Renmin University, said despite the EU and US’ common interest of cutting reliance on China to reshape the global industrial chain, the EU had not chosen a side or created a new enemy.
Foreign ministers from the European Union’s 27 member states will meet on Monday for their monthly Foreign Affairs Council and while there are no agenda items directly focused on China, diplomats involved in the planning said the subject will be woven throughout a number of discussions on the day.
One such item is the geopolitical challenges facing the EU’s “connectivity” plans, including the strengthening of its digital infrastructure, the production of strategically important products like semiconductors, and how to compete with “authoritarian regimes” on these fronts.
“China is always with us indirectly and implicitly. There will be a China discussion on this front on Monday. This is about the use of new digital technologies; a human-centric, European concept of digitisation,” said one European diplomat.
