Borrell affirms that the 27 support his proposal to rebalance relations with China

BRUSSELS, May 12. (EUROPE PRESS) –

The High Representative for Foreign Policy, Josep Borrell, affirmed this Friday that the member states of the bloc support his proposal to rebalance relations with China, after supporting his document that bets on maintaining communication channels with Beijing, correcting the trade deficit and demand that it influence the Kremlin in the context of the Ukrainian war.

“One thing is clear, the Twenty-seven support the music of the text. There will be words that they want to change, nuances, but the document is a solid and complete approach towards China. I have not heard any specific disagreement,” he said at a press conference after the meeting of foreign ministers in Stockholm.

In this sense, the head of community diplomacy has defended that his proposal is a “good basis” to close a position of unity of the EU before China, although later there may be “shades” between Member States.

This debate came after the carousel of visits by European leaders to Beijing that highlighted the differences existing in the EU on the relationship with the Asian giant. The document advocates a pragmatic position towards China, adapting relations to the new reality of a power with greater political, military and economic influence, which is shaping up to clash with the United States and which has a booming nationalism.

Now the document is expected to undergo updates and improvements by the Twenty-seven with the idea of ​​presenting a final version to the EU leaders before the European Council in June to adopt a clear position on relations with Beijing.

BORRELL DOCUMENT

The proposal presented by the Foreign Action Service this Friday is committed to a pragmatic relationship with China in which communication channels are kept open, but at the same time promoting more balanced trade relations and ensuring that Beijing plays a constructive role on the scene. world, especially to get Russia to withdraw its troops from Ukraine.

The document, to which Europa Press has had access, points to China as a partner, competitor and rival, as defined by the EU in 2019, but recognizes that these elements depend on the Asian country’s own conduct in the international arena.

Community diplomacy advocates maintaining contacts “proportionate” to Chinese interest and European objectives in terms of peace and stability, although it stresses that the EU must have diplomatic channels open anyway for “realistic, direct and multifaceted” contact with Peking.

“Systemic rivalry can appear in almost all areas of action. But this should not prevent us from keeping communication channels open and seeking constructive cooperation with China,” the proposal states, which proposes to break the “growing self-induced isolation” by the Chinese leaders.

A large part of the relations with the European block will be marked by the future of the war in Ukraine, emphasizes the strategy designed by Borrell, which indicates that setting the conditions for a just peace and avoiding a “selective” approach in principles of the world order will define the EU’s approach to the Asian giant.

At this point, the diplomatic services stress the demand that Beijing exert its influence on the Kremlin to end the war, stressing that relations will be affected “if China does not push Russia to withdraw from Ukraine.”