With her idea of “de-risking” now becoming the official trademark of the West’s China policy, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is now pushing for that to be translated into a tougher European policy on China.
As her leadership prepares the European Union member nations for what would be an early-stage road map for her “de-risking” crusade, however, representatives from several major EU members have reportedly expressed worries about Brussels “mimicking” Washington’s “gung ho” approach. The EU chief may be confident she can finally bring all member countries on board as she did previously in maneuvering a Europe-wide reassessment of China policies, but abusive politicization does no good to European interests.
It would be unfair to assume Von der Leyen’s commission has no concerns about pragmatic European interests when it comes to relations with China, or that it has not tried to distance itself to a degree from Washington’s all-out assault on China. Or it would not have come up with the proposal of “de-risking” instead of simply joining Washington’s “decoupling” drive. But despite sounding less aggressive than Washington’s initial concept of “decoupling”, the Von der Leyen-led “de-risking” is quite similar in that it attempts to “reduce dependencies” on China via trade and investment controls. And, as many have observed, she is increasingly focusing EU attention on China as a “systemic rival”, although officially it also identifies China as a “partner for cooperation and negotiation” and “an economic competitor”. In official EU narratives, cooperation with China is increasingly being reduced to such realms as climate change, just like in those of Washington.
No wonder there are reports that diplomats from France, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands have displayed reservations about Von der Leyen’s road map last week. They are obviously not ready for the dramatic changes proposed. Echoing French President Emmanuel Macron’s recent remarks on European autonomy and the need to avoid the scenario of Europe becoming a US pawn, the diplomats reminded Brussels that Europe is Europe, not the US.
Europe’s relations with China should be independent from those between the US and China. The China-EU relationship is not only a natural outcome of pragmatic mutual needs, but features long-standing mutual respect. Europe will naturally act in what it considers to be its best interests, but a clear-eyed review of EU-China relations will find the so-called risks from economic and trade ties with China have been disproportionately exaggerated.
From Beijing’s perspective, neither the differences on the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, nor disagreements on such topics as human rights and the Taiwan question need get in the way of China-EU cooperation. Europe should not swallow Washington’s line lest it be drawn so tight that it ends up cutting off its nose and spiting its face.
Editorial, China Daily
