Ursula von der Leyen on Thursday called on European leaders to coordinate their policy towards China and stand up to Beijing’s attempts to sow division in the EU. The president of the Commission has warned that the Asian giant has turned towards a more repressive stance internally and more aggressively externally, which requires Brussels to equip itself with “new defensive tools”, in particular to protect strategic high-tech sectors such as microelectronics, quantum computing, robotics, artificial intelligence or biotechnology.
Von der Leyen’s announcement comes as European leaders make a pilgrimage to Beijing to discuss economic relations and the peace plan presented by Xi Jinping for Ukraine. To the visit this Thursday and Friday of the President of the Government, Pedro Sanchezwill be followed by Emmanuel Macron and the president of the European Commission herself next week. The head of community diplomacy, Josep Borrellwhile the Italian Giorgia Meloni has been invited by Xi.
Von der Leyen defends all these trips because he considers it “vitally important to guarantee diplomatic stability and open lines of communication with China.” At the same time, the president herself warns that “a solid European policy towards China depends on strong coordination between the Member States and the EU institutions and on the will to avoid the ‘divide and conquer’ tactic that we know we are going to encounter”.
[Líderes europeos creen que la invitación de Xi a Sánchez es un plan para dividirles sobre Ucrania]
“It is clear that our relations (with China) have become more distant and more difficult in recent years. We have seen a very deliberate tightening of China’s overall strategic stance for some time,” the president lamented in a speech devoted entirely to relations between Brussels and Beijing. “China is becoming more repressive inward and more assertive outward,” von der Leyen argues.
In his opinion, the EU’s strategy must not be based on totally disengaging from Beijing, as the United States asks, but to reduce the risks. But the president admits that everything will depend on the role that Xi ends up playing in Ukraine. “Instead of walking away from the heinous and illegal invasion of Ukraine, President Xi maintains his ‘unlimited friendship’ with Putin’s Russia,” she criticized. However, there has been a role reversal and the strongest link in the relationship is no longer Russia but China.
Von der Leyen remains skeptical of Xi’s peace plan for Ukraine. “Any peace plan that actually consolidates Russian annexations is simply not a viable plan. We have to be frank on this point. How China continues to interact with Putin’s war will be a determining factor for the future of EU relations. -China,” he said.
In economic matters, the change in China requires “develop new defensive tools for some critical sectors”. “The EU needs to define its future relationship with China and other countries in sensitive high-tech areas such as microelectronics, quantum computing, robotics, artificial intelligence, biotechnology and others,” said the president.
[Sánchez, Macron, Borrell y Von der Leyen buscan un papel para la UE en China que pueda aislar a Rusia]
“Where the risk of dual use (civilian and military) cannot be excluded or human rights may be at stake, there must be a clear line on whether investments or exports meet our security interests. We must ensure that the capital, experience and knowledge of our companies are not used to improve the military and intelligence capabilities of those who are also systemic rivals“Von der Leyen has argued.
Specifically, the EU must prevent the leakage of emerging or sensitive technologies through investments in other countries such as China. For this reason, Brussels plans to present at the end of the year a new Economic Security Strategywhich will include controls on outbound investment in sensitive technologies that may lead to the development of military capabilities that pose national security risks.
