China and EU relationships seem to have become two months to build, writes Mika Hentunen, EPN’s Asian correspondent.
Mika Hentunenase-Correspondent
Pekking Who would have thought in January that China would start filling the gap left in the US world? Provides an alternative to even transatlantic relationships?
Now, however, it is credible. China and the EU are warming up their relationships.
Disassembly of China’s risk at both states and business levels was a central theme in the EU in January before Donald Trump took office. China’s spy, unfair competition practices and direct barriers to trade for Western businesses on their market angered Europeans.
Europe also accused China of double -moralism in climate policy.
At the end of last year, at a climate meeting in Azerbaijan, China insisted on getting to the Great Power table. As the speech turned into money, China would place itself into a developing country so that they would not have to pay for climate action.
It would have been the right and fairness of Europeans, as China is the world’s largest pollutant and its economy is the second largest in the world.
However, Trump has changed the world order in a few weeks.
The United States has withdrew from the Paris Climate Convention and the World Health Organization, frozen its development aid and support for Ukraine, set hard customs fees for foreign products, expelled the legally resident South Ambassy Ambassador in the United States, including both Grönland and Panama Canal.
China sees its chances of increasing its so -called soft power in the world.
First of all China increases cooperation With the EU.
The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported from the beginning of the week that China is ready to develop its relationships with the EU in all areas and levels. This year will be 50 years since China and the then European Community concluded the diplomatic relations.
In recent weeks, China has sent delegations to Europe to promote trade between China and the EU.
In this way, the optimist comments were screamed last week by Chinese export promotion to Brussels:
This can be seen as a significant change, as Customs dispute, which started with electric cars, tightened the EU and China last year.
China has been skeptical about the EU in general. The superpower of China’s top leadership recently described to EPN that the Chinese president XI jinping “You don’t like the EU for yourself.”
Secondly, China takes care of US development projects.
The United States has been the world’s largest funding for development cooperation, so the Trump Administration’s decision to freeze over 80 percent of development cooperation is a strong blow to many developing countries. China has now offered to raise its profile in the field of development cooperation.
For example, it took on a mine clearance work in Cambodia, which was previously funded by the US Development Cooperation Agency, USAid.
China’s help is treated in many countries with caution. Through its own “Belt and Road” program, China has funded extensive construction projects in Asia, Africa and South America, but it has recently demanded political influence in those countries and waited for, for example, that in the UN, countries will vote as China wants.
In Europe, the largest Chinese money construction projects are in Hungary. With the help of the Chinese, the Budapest Airport is currently being renovated and a bullet train is built between Budapest and Belgrade.
Thirdly, China attracts experts From all over the world.
An estimated 75,000 people have been separated or voluntarily resigned or left for the US administration for two months. There are top experts in many different fields.
China has attracted, for example, job announcements, experts at the Federal Health Institute NIH and Space Administration NASA. The Chinese Space Administration also attracts European experts in its program to aim for space flights to Mars.
Brainstorming from the United States and Europe can be the next strategic goal in which China is seeking leadership in the world.