“It must be placed on the right side of history with respect to Russia”

“Regarding Chinawe must be aware that we have a dependence in some elements extraordinary that makes us vulnerable“, warn Pedro Sanchez. Coinciding with the 20th Communist Party Congress in Beijing, European leaders have devoted the final day of their autumn summit in Brussels to a strategic debate on China. Three hours of intense discussion behind closed doors, without advisers or mobile phones, whose main conclusion is that the EU must strengthen its “strategic autonomy”.

[La UE exige a China que presione a Putin para poner fin de inmediato a la guerra en Ucrania]

“The discussion has shown that we are witnessing a great acceleration of trends and tensions. It has been made abundantly clear at the Communist Party Congress that President Xi continues to reinforce the very assertive and self-reliant course that China has taken. Clearly, China has marked itself as a mission establish their dominance in East Asia and their influence globally“, said the president of the Commission, Ursula von der Leyen.

European leaders are also concerned about the “limitless friendship” that China sealed with Russia in February, just before the outbreak of war in Ukraine. Although at the moment there is no evidence that the Beijing government is actively supporting Moscow in the invasion, it refuses to condemn the war or the annexation of the occupied Ukrainian territories by Vladimir Putin. “These events will affect the EU-China relationship,” says Von der Leyen.

“What’s important to us is that we talk to China and make sure that China is on the right side of history regarding Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine“, said the Prime Minister of Latvia, Krisjanis Karins. The EU calls on Beijing to exert its influence over the Kremlin to end the war in Ukraine, so far with no success.

In 2019, Brussels defined China simultaneously as a cooperation partner in areas such as climate change, an economic competitor in the search for technological leadership and systemic rival that promotes an alternative authoritarian model to democracy. The head of European diplomacy, Joseph Borrellis revising this definition and believes that the time has come to put more emphasis on the issue of systemic rivalry.

“Obviously, we have to be very vigilant when it comes to dependencies. We have learned our lesson about Russia’s over-reliance on fossil fuels, and how difficult but necessary it is to get rid of this dependency. In the case of China, the risk is the dependence on technologies and raw materials. Therefore, the priority here is to strengthen our own capacities and diversify the supply of raw materials towards reliable and trustworthy suppliers“, argues Von der Leyen.

But one thing is the theory that all leaders share and another is the practice. What has created the most controversy in the European Council is the trip to Beijing announced by Olaf Scholz for November 3 and 4. The foreign minister will be the first G7 leader to visit China since the outbreak of the pandemic. As with Russian gas, Germany is the EU country most dependent on the Asian giant. “The EU presumes to be a Union interested in global trade and does not side with those who promote deglobalization,” Scholz said to justify his trip.

“I think that with China it is the same as with Russia. It suits them that we are divided. We are interested in being united and speaking with one voice. And this is extremely important for small countries that do not have the power to have separate relations. Thus it is very important to treat China as a systemic rival. But it is also very important that we do not make separate agreements with China because that would mean that we are weaker as a Union,” says Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas in a thinly veiled criticism of Scholz.

In any case, European leaders have not wanted to put in writing the conclusions of the debate on China. “The European Council has held a strategic debate on the EU’s relations with China,” it limits itself to pointing out point 22 of the text approved at the end of the summit. An attempt not to further aggravate the tensions caused by the repressive measures that Beijing has adopted in Hong Kong, Xinjiang or Taiwan.