(International observation) Biden's trip to Brussels: Is the United States really "back"?

　　China News Agency, Brussels, June 16th, title: Biden's trip to Brussels: Is the United States really "back"?

　　China News Agency reporter De Yongjian

　　"It's not annoying to see me..." U.S. President Biden asked with a smile; "It's a great honor..." European Commission President Von der Lein replied with a smile.

　　At noon on the 15th local time, the EU-U.S. summit was held at the EU headquarters in Brussels. This was the scene when Von der Lein and the President of the European Council Michelle greeted Biden-of course, everyone was greeting and laughing.

Data map: US President Biden.

　　It seems that it is more than that.

Since arriving in the UK on June 9th, Biden attended the G7 Cornwall summit from the 11th to the 13th, then moved to Brussels, attended the NATO summit on the 14th, and attended the European and American summit on the 15th.

In just a few days, he met and met with the heads of European powers such as Germany and France, and EU leaders such as Michel and Von der Lein. It is no wonder that the "meeting" was used as a joke on the 15th.

　　From Cornwall to Brussels, Biden kept on delivering a message repeatedly at the summit venue that the United States has returned to the international stage and that the United States has "returned"; the same is true for the media. Since the NATO summit on the 14th, a press conference has been held. When the European and American summit opened on the 15th, he gave a brief speech to the media, and Biden repeatedly said "come back".

　　Compared with Trump's administration, the United States has indeed "returned" in form.

The 2019 NATO London summit ended rashly due to Trump’s early departure. Biden chose to take this NATO Brussels summit to meet with Turkish President Erdogan, adding weight to the NATO summit; the European and American summits have not been held since 2014, and the European Union Leaders have complaints about this. Biden held the European and American summit less than half a year after he took office, and the 15th was the first time a US president visited the EU headquarters in the past four years.

　　In the face of Biden's "importance", Brussels is eager to get more.

In January this year, Biden was sworn in, and von der Lein said that "After a long four years, Europe has a friend in the White House." On the 14th, NATO Secretary-General Stoltenberg said that at the current "critical moment", It is hoped that NATO will open a "new chapter in transatlantic relations"; the European and American summit on the 15th issued a joint statement directly with the theme of "towards a new transatlantic partnership."

　　Although the rhetoric is lively, and the summit is lively, but it is doubtful how much substantive content is.

At the European and American summit, the specific consensus reached between the two sides focused on economic and trade. One of them was to put aside the long-delayed European and American aviation subsidy dispute for five years, during which time the two sides halted the retaliatory tariffs imposed on each other due to aviation subsidies.

After the news came out, some media revealed that the negotiating teams of the two sides had "finally sprinted" in an attempt to reach a comprehensive agreement before the summit, but the differences were too big, and the goal could only be changed from "resolved" to "shelved."

　　In addition, in 2018, the then Trump administration began to impose tariffs on steel and aluminum products exported from the EU to the United States on the grounds of “maintaining national security”. The EU has been deeply dissatisfied and emphasized that as an ally of the United States, the EU poses a threat to the national security of the United States. ?

In the joint statement of the European and American summit, it only stated that the two sides are trying to resolve the steel and aluminum tariff disputes by the end of this year. In other words, the United States' steel and aluminum tariffs will continue to be collected for some time in the future.

　　Even in the field of diplomacy and security, where the two sides frequently coordinate their positions, the joint statement declares that Europe and the United States will strengthen cooperation and use sanctions to seek common foreign policy and security goals while avoiding unintended consequences for the interests of both sides. There may be different approaches to problems, and these differences can only be left to follow-up processing.

　　Intriguingly, some media pointed out that although the Brussels summit on the 14th was the first NATO summit held since Biden took office as the US president, it was the only NATO summit with the "shortest duration" in the past 20 years. The meeting lasted only two and a half hours; as for the European and American summit on the 15th, public reports showed that after the summit opened at noon on the 15th local time, Biden had rushed to the airport at around 2:30 pm, and then transferred to Geneva, Switzerland. The US-Russia summit with Russian President Putin on the 16th is waiting for him.

　　The intensive summit was in a hurry. Biden ended his first visit to Brussels during his presidency. But when he left, did the United States really "return"?

This question mark may be getting bigger and bigger in Brussels.

(Finish)