Chinese envoy takes aim at Europe’s ‘de-risking’, national security fears

Wu Hongbo, Beijing’s special representative for Europe, says it’s not logical to see a key partner like China as a systemic rival

European ambassadors at forum hit back, saying concerns are justified and China has been doing the same thing for years

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A senior Chinese diplomat has hit out at European capitals pursuing a “de-risking” strategy in dealing with China. Photo: Reuters

Published: 9:55pm, 21 Sep 2023Updated: 12:44am, 22 Sep 2023

A senior Chinese diplomat has traded barbs with European envoys at a forum in Beijing, urging Europe not to see Beijing as a threat, as European capitals pursue a “de-risking” strategy in dealing with China.

Wu Hongbo, China’s special representative for Europe, made the remarks at a forum held by a Chinese think tank, the Centre for China and Globalisation, in Beijing on Thursday.

He called on envoys at the event to try to understand China properly and not overemphasise national security in relation to China.

Wu Hongbo, China’s special representative for Europe, said the concept of national security had been “overstretched”. Photo: Weibo

“Decoupling is the baby of the USA, de-risking was invented in Europe, and the concept of national security has been overstretched,” Wu told the forum, which has been held annually since 2015.

He said Huawei Technologies – which has been at the centre of US-China rivalry – was an example of this. Wu said no country had produced any evidence that the Chinese telecoms firm had threatened their national security.

“China is a key partner for cooperation with Europe and that such a key partner is considered as a systemic rival is neither reasonable nor logical,” Wu said.

But European envoys at the forum said concerns about China were justified.

Thomas Østrup Møller, Denmark’s ambassador to China, said it was “not fair to blame Europe for inventing de-risking as a new out-of-the-blue policy”.