Current Affairs

Ursula Von de Leyen, the leader of the European Commission argues that ‘China is becoming more repressive at home and more aggressive abroad.’ She says that China has turned the page on an era of reform and opening and ‘is moving into an era of security control.’ This is certainly different from the language that has been part of the European political canon for the past thirty years. President Xi, has ramped up the way that China is approaching the world and like Putin, he is moving China into a position that is not only repressive internally but aggressive externally.

Europe is worried about the militarisation of China, its more assertive position on the world stage and how President Xi Jinping repeated his assertion to make the Chinese military a ‘great wall of steel that effectively safeguards national sovereignty, security and development interests.

But there is an industrial argument, which is dependent on Net Zero and China is a net exporter of rare earth, magnesium and lithium, all components that are vital to Europe’s industrial ability to reach its net zero target. Exports of semi-conductor machinery from EU, Japan and the USA to China have fallen. Japanese exports fell by 16%, the USA saw a fall of 50% and the Netherlands exports fell to 40% of industrial machinery being exported to China. This is technical equipment that China needs to develop into an industrial powerhouse that would enable it to surpass the US market in technical ability. President Xi in a speech argued that “Western countries led by the US have contained and suppressed us in an all-round way, which has brought unprecedented severe challenges to our development.”

Ursula Von der Leyen argued that it is now “imperative for security and control […] trumps logic of free markets and open trade. In his report to the recent Congress, President Xi told the Chinese people to prepare to struggle. It is no coincidence that he used in his opening speech the words ‘douzheng’ and ‘fendou’ repeatedly – which both can be translated as struggle. This is indicative of a world view shaped by a sense of mission for the Chinese state.”

Fu Cong China’s Ambassador to the European Union said that he was disappointed. He argued that Von Der Leyens speech “contained a lot of misrepresentations and misinterpretations of Chinese policies and positions,” he told State owned broadcaster CGTN. And argued that “whoever wrote the speech for Von der Leyen does not really understand China or deliberately distorted Chinese positions,” he added in the broadcast.

Damien Cave writing in the New York Times, believes the “Asia pacific are steering into an anxious, well armed moment with echoes of old conflicts and immediate risk. […] nations across the region are bolstering defence budgets, joint training, weapons manufacturing and combat ready infrastructures.”

But if China really wants to understand how much damage the meeting between Putin and President Xi has had, they only have to look at the German conservatives who have adjusted their view of Beijing, saying the balance has shifted ‘toward systematic rivalry.’ From a position of rapprochement and economic interdependence towards China and Russia when Merkel was Chancellor. According to POLITICO, the conservatives believe the idea of keeping peace through economic cooperation “has failed.” The twenty two page report, which is to be adopted by the centre-right CDU and CSU parliamentary group, details key points for a new China policy.

When Xi Jinping went to Russia, the significance was a key element to the way that the West now views China, Xi spent three days in Russia, solidifying his “no limits partnership” with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Biden views Europe as at best ambivalent to China, some of the countries such as France and Germany have worried that decoupling from China would lead to economic pain. But due to Xi’s positioning of China as not only a customer but also a supplier to Russia, there is a certain amount of horror the West has felt because of China’s position and its foreign policy. Putin is hoping that Xi’s display of solidarity would translate into economic and military support to help Russia manage sanctions and shortages. But in reality China has more on her plate, the rebalancing of global geopolitics juxtaposes Russia’s needs to nothing other than a sideline.

According to Nick Camut of Politico, the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has invited Xi Jinping to Ukraine, for direct talks between the two leaders. “We are ready to see Xi here,” Zelensky said in an interview with the Associated Press. Zelensky went on to say that he had had contact with President Xi before the war, but since the war began there has been no dialogue between himself and Xi, though China promoted a resolution for peace. Zelensky thinks the twelve point peace plan respects international law, and believes that Ukraine could work with China to find an answer to the war.

But it is a question of how other nations view China and are threatened by the Chinese state either economically, in security or diplomatically. US Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel called for Congress to legislate and protect countries whose economies are targeted by Chinese sanctions due to political disputes. He said that “China has resorted to punitive measures against trading partners […] disputes over issues such as Taiwan or Covid 19, has effectively led to block[ing] most exports from Lithuania to China, […] after Lithuania recognised Taiwan.”

Belgium security and intelligence services are questioning whether Huawei is involved in espionage, especially in Brussels where EU and NATO are headquartered. According to Politico, in recent months Belgium’s State Security Service has requested that former employees of the company’s lobbying operation attend interviews. The scrutiny of Huawei comes after Western Security agencies are sounding alarm bells over companies with links to China.

There is a hardening of attitudes towards China in Europe, most of it self made by the way that China has acted, especially President Xi’s visit to the Kremlin and his friendship with his junior partner Russia. Europe is moving on and realigning with other powers, especially in the G7 and G20, they understand the value that China brings, but the aggression of the Chinese state to those who recognise Taiwan, or have ired China, has brought to the fore questions about the viability of a long term relationship with China under President Xi Jinping. The espionage, military build up and demands from the Chinese state are weighing heavily on Europe, that can see its dependency on China growing as the market is cornered in materials necessary for the development of a carbon neutral economy. But what weighs heavily is the behaviour of the Chinese state and whether sanctions are just the beginning of a relationship that will eventually dissolve into a cold war.