The foreign Ministers of the EU met in Brussels for their Chinese counterparts. Not just sunshine and roses, but hard-hitting economic interests dominate the handling. Bernd Riegert from Brussels.
Preparations for the next summit, Wang Yi, and Federica Mogherini
China is currently at the top of the foreign policy agenda of the European Union. The heads of state and government want to log in to your summit at the end of the week with intensive relations with the Economic superpower China to deal with. At the beginning of April, the annual head of the EU meeting with China’s President Xi Jinping in Brussels. “China is becoming more and more important, the more difficult the trade relations of the United States,” says an EU Diplomat, the increased interest in the one-party dictatorship, dominated, with its 1.3 billion inhabitants is the second largest economy in the world.
Common interests – different systems
Conversely, China has a greater interest in good relations to the 500 million Europeans, because the country is in the midst of a tariff war, and the difficult trade talks with the US Trump-government. The EU is the second largest trading partner of China. The EU foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, and the Chinese foreign Minister, Wang Xi, the Ministers of the EU gave today along with the 28 outside a tryst, in their press conference, as the similarities between the two regions. Agreed, China and the EU are the reform of the claim of the world trade organization. Both stand in contrast to the United States for “multilateralism and a rules-based global economic order”. Both want to work together to tackle climate change, the US President, Donald Trump for a conspiracy.
The EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said that she had, of course, clear that China and the EU would speak on many issues and basic views. The ranges of the observance of human rights up to the unfair treatment of business in the Chinese market. “It is no secret that we have different systems and to each other in economic competition, but we can define areas for negotiations, of which we can both benefit,” said Mogherini after a meeting with foreign Minister Wang Xi.
Controversial group: Huawei is a security problem, according to the United States and France
“Unfounded Accusations”
“Of course we want to reach the same game rules for all companies. The security in the cyber space is very important to us,” said the EU high representative for foreign Affairs on the question of whether the Chinese company Huawei should be involved in the development of 5G wireless network in the EU. The US accuses Huawei of spying software to its telecommunications facilities. In Europe, only some States share these concerns. In Germany, for example, Huawei should be able to participate, in spite of its possible control by the Chinese government, the tenders for the 5G network. Compared to the DW, the German foreign Minister Heiko Maas, on the sidelines of the EU meeting, and would not bow to pressure from the United States, or from the outside. “We know that economic interests are often the political interests are interwoven. Therefore, we will meet at the auction of the 5G licenses an Autonomous decision-making, which has all things in view, namely, that our security interests are safeguarded.”
Chinese foreign Minister Wang Xi insisted that Chinese companies should receive a fair and impartial access to the market. Without Huawei directly by name, he said: “We are opposed to unfounded accusations for political reasons that are meant to cause harm to a foreign company.”
United Europe?
The German foreign Minister Heiko Maas said in Brussels, it was especially important that the EU, compared to China together. “Only then will it be possible to be able to of what we have in values and interests, with China represented.” So the dialogue with China is not running. At the end of the week, the Chinese government will arrive President to visit Italy. The Prime Minister, Giuseppe Conte, who leads the populist government in Rome announced that he was going to China, an agreement on deeper economic cooperation. Italy will participate as the fourth-largest state in the EU and the first country in the group of seven major Western industrial Nations in the Chinese project of the new silk road.
China promises investment and expected in return for better access to European markets. The silk road project have taken part so far, 11 of the East and the smaller southern EU States in search of investors. The Chinese foreign Minister tried to make it clear that China does not want to columns with its commitment in Italy, Greece and elsewhere in Europe. “We are in favour of deeper European Integration,” said Wang Xi. “We strongly support a strong and United Europe.” Wang Xi admitted that there are of course differences, but the similarities are greater.
The first building block of the new silk road 2014: New Danube bridge in Belgrade – financed by China
EU Commission wants to limit China’s investment
The EU is China in a position paper for the summit as a “systemic rivals” is considered, gives its own companies through unfair state aid benefits, the Chinese foreign Minister, externally left. The EU foreign policy chief Mogherini tried to criticism of China’s economic policy, from the EU-paper to read, to play down. “Yes, this is also an internal discussion paper for our preparation.” However, this is not quite right. The EU Commission had published the 12-page strategic Outlook last week and, among other things, encouraged to limit the Chinese investments in infrastructure strukturwie in Croatia, Greece and maybe in the future in Italy. State-owned companies, which would be fed with aid, would have to be excluded from European orders, according to the paper. Even companies that wanted to collaborate in the construction of safety relevant structures, such as 5G, or artificial intelligence, would have to meet very strict criteria.
Chinese Police Officer (Mi.) in Milan: cooperation for Chinese tourists in Italy for 2016
So far, the competence to decide on such questions lies with the member States of the EU. Whether for common and stricter policy towards China, and the majorities, is not clear. On the contrary, There are studies of the “Mercator Institute for China Studies” and the Berlin “Public Policy Institute in the past year,” prove that the governments of Greece or the Czech Republic are already pushing actively in decisions relating to the EU for Chinese interests. Add to this the Italian in the near future?
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Greece – Chinese are welcome!