Belgium prime minister cautions against treating China as if it is another Russia

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Uploaded: 2022-06-27T19:28:32.000Z
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‘The last thing we should do is turn our backs to China the way we are turning our backs to Russia,’ Alexander De Croo says

Noting Beijing is ‘an important trading partner’, De Croo represents a widening schism between two factions on EU China policy

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Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo suggested China’s alliance with Russia would not last long: “Can this be a partnership in the next five years? I’d be very surprised if it were,” Photo: AFP

Finbarr Berminghamin Brussels

Published: 3:28am, 28 Jun 2022Updated: 5:17am, 28 Jun 2022

Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo has warned against lumping China into the same geopolitical basket as Russia, saying that “for the moment” each should be considered differently.

“I think the last thing we should do is turn our backs to China the way we are turning our backs to Russia,” De Croo told an event in Brussels on Monday.

He advocated a continuation of the European Union’s triptych policy, regarding Beijing as a partner, rival and competitor.

“They’re an important trading partner. It’s a fact – I mean, you can be in favour of it or not, but they’re an important trading partner,” De Croo told the Brussels Forum, an event organised by the German Marshall Fund of the United States.

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De Croo’s remarks came amid a flurry of summitry in Europe, at which China is an important topic of conversation.