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The European Union’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell. Photo: AFP

EU foreign policy chief flags review of China strategy ‘in months’

  • Josep Borrell says a report analysing the relationship will be presented to the European Council at the end of the summer
  • The EU has already named China as a systemic rival and a landmark investment deal is on hold as tensions continue to rise
The European Union is considering a review of its strategy towards China in the coming months, with growing cracks in the relationship since the suspension of their landmark investment deal over human rights and accusations of Chinese involvement in cyberattacks.

Josep Borrell, the 27-member bloc’s foreign policy chief, told the El País newspaper the European Commission would present a report to the European Council at the end of the summer that analysed the relationship with China “to see if it is necessary to review the current policy”.

“The European Union will always be closer to Washington than to Beijing. We will always be closer to a country that has the same political system as ours, a market economy, a multiparty democracy with concurrence in elections, than a single-party country,” he said, according to the article published on Thursday.

China-EU investment deal ‘huge step in right direction’, Brussels chief says

“This is not to say that we have to systemically align ourselves with Washington’s positions on Beijing because we have our own specific interests.”

Public sentiment in Europe has hardened against China since the investment deal was signed last December, despite objections from Washington. Since then, tensions have grown between Brussels and Beijing, with the agreement on hold after China’s retaliatory sanctions against EU restrictions imposed over the treatment of ethnic minorities in Xinjiang.

Last week, the EU joined the US and other countries to denounce “malicious cyberattacks” on Microsoft servers by hackers based in China, although the bloc did not explicitly pin the blame on Beijing.

Diplomats say there have been efforts by China to bring the relationship with EU members back on track, including a series of meetings in China with foreign ministers from Finland, Malta, Hungary and Poland. Borrell himself met with China’s foreign minister Wang Yi in Uzbekistan earlier in July, and President Xi Jinping held virtual talks with Germany and France.

The revival of the EU-China investment deal is still considered a possibility down the line, and there has been interest from both sides in holding an EU-China summit this year, although there have been difficulties in agreeing details, including a location.

China reaches out to Europe, telling Finland ‘we’re partners, not rivals’

Xi has not travelled outside China since the start of the Covid-19 outbreak in January 2020 and the Chinese side has so far only offered venues far from Beijing, such as the southwestern city of Guizhou.

The EU took a sharp turn in its approach to China in March 2019, when it labelled the country as a “systemic rival” in a strategic outlook that outlined 10 proposals for future relations, including engaging Beijing effectively on human rights and working for a more balanced trade and investment relationship.

European leaders are also aware that their voters have soured on China. The latest Pew Research in late June showed the public continues to hold the highly unfavourable views which have become predominant in recent years, notably in Germany, Sweden, France and the Netherlands.

Part of this has been driven by Beijing’s aggressive “Wolf Warrior” style in foreign policy and in defence of its policies in Xinjiang and Hong Kong. Foreign diplomats in Beijing say they have conveyed these concerns to their Chinese counterparts but most do not expect to see any change, despite Xi’s calls for the creation of a more “lovable” image of China.
This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: Brussels ‘could reconsider’ strategy on Beijing soon
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