High-level visits are frequent and communication intentions are positive

China and the EU are expected to return to the main tone of win-win cooperation

Reporter Wu Na

Ambassador Li Hui, Special Representative of the Chinese Government for Eurasian Affairs, will visit five European countries from May 5 to communicate with all parties on a political settlement of the Ukraine crisis. Over the past month or so, many European leaders and dignitaries have visited China intensively, and high-level Chinese officials have also visited Europe intensively, especially Qin Gang's first visit to Europe after becoming China's foreign minister. This year marks the 15th anniversary of the establishment of a comprehensive strategic partnership between China and the EU, and many experts said that China-EU relations have been negatively affected by the Ukraine crisis, but the current trend of "stopping the decline and returning to stability" is expected to return to the main tone of win-win cooperation.

At the press conference on the celebration of Europe Day held by the EU delegation to China on May 5, EU Ambassador to China Yu Yaoxu said in response to a question from this reporter, "Qin Gang's visit is welcomed by both EU and China, and dialogue is always good news." At the same time, he said that a high-level dialogue will be held in the second half of this year, and China and the EU will reach agreements and make progress in more areas.

China actively mediates for peace

Since the telephone call between the heads of state of China and Ukraine on April 4, when China announced that it would send the special representative of the Chinese government for Eurasian affairs to Ukraine and other countries, the Chinese Foreign Ministry recently announced that Ambassador Li Hui will visit Ukraine, Poland, France, Germany and Russia from May 26 to communicate with all parties on the political settlement of the Ukrainian crisis.

Zheng Chunrong, director of the German Research Center of Tongji University, analyzed to this reporter the reasons for the Chinese Special Representative's visit to these countries: Ukraine and Russia are countries involved in the conflict, and China needs to listen to their opinions and ideas when it goes to actively mediate; Poland can be said to have the toughest stance against Russia among European countries, so it is also a representative country; France and Germany, European powers and leading forces within the European Union, played an important role in the Ukraine crisis. In particular, French President Emmanuel Macron said during his visit to China that he was willing to cooperate with China to find a solution to the Ukrainian crisis, and "expressed a positive and clear position."

"From the Global Security Initiative and China's position on a political settlement of the Ukraine crisis, to the phone call between the Chinese and Ukrainian heads of state and the dispatch of special envoys, it shows that China is willing to assume more international responsibilities diplomatically and work towards building a safer world." Zheng Chunrong said that China firmly stands on the side of peace and actively mediates to persuade peace and promote talks.

The changing and unchanged attitude of Europe

"The impact of this conflict on Europe's foreign relations is very large. Europe and Russia have formed a serious confrontation, Europe and the United States are getting closer and closer, and China-EU relations have become victims. This is the statement made by Feng Zhongping, director of the Institute of European Studies of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, at the British Blue Book press conference a few days ago. In his view, since the outbreak of the Ukraine crisis, many European countries, especially Central and Eastern European countries, have bound China and Russia, and every move in Sino-Russian relations will be examined, "and even the normal relationship between China and Russia will be amplified." ”

Over the past year, European countries have faced economic downturn or even recessionary pressure, energy security crises, and people's livelihood challenges. Feng Zhongping believes that even if it encounters various difficulties, "there is no major change in Europe's position on aid to Ukraine and anti-Russia." At the same time, he also noted two major changes, one of which is that the mainstream European view wants an early end to the conflict, and that each country's position on how to end it is not consistent; The second is a pragmatic change in Europe's attitude towards China, with German Chancellor Scholz's visit to Huawei as a "landmark event" in November last year, and then a new round of intensive interaction between China and Europe.

What is the driving force behind the pragmatic shift? Feng Zhongping analyzed that the first is economic reasons, Europe seeks to maintain cooperation with China in economic and trade aspects, "so almost every European leader is now clearly opposed to economic 'decoupling' with China." "The second impetus comes from the tendency to work with China to resolve the Ukrainian crisis, hoping that China will play a greater role in calming the Ukrainian crisis." In addition, Feng Zhongping stressed that Europe's attitude towards China has also changed during the Trump administration and the Biden administration in the United States. During the Trump era, Europe emphasized taking the "third way", that is, distancing itself from the US China policy. After Biden took office, he showed an attitude of wooing allies to deal with China, and Europe no longer made relevant statements. "But since last autumn, Europe has begun to emphasize not to choose sides between China and the United States."

"For more than a year, under the influence of this conflict, China-EU relations have experienced a transformation of estrangement and gunpowder, and now they have begun to stabilize and even warm." Feng Zhongping said.

China-EU cooperation is expected to make progress

Over the past month or so, many European leaders and dignitaries have visited China intensively, and high-level Chinese officials have also recently visited Europe.

State Councilor and Foreign Minister Qin Gang recently concluded his first visit to Europe since taking office, visiting Germany, France and Norway respectively. At the last stop in Norway, he said that through this visit, he deeply felt the positive willingness of the European side to strengthen communication and coordination with China and promote mutually beneficial cooperation. At the same time, in order for China-EU relations to develop steadily and sustainably, we need to adhere to three points: first, adhere to an inclusive world view; second, adhere to a progressive view of history; Third, adhere to the concept of mutually beneficial and win-win cooperation.

Since November last year, European leaders and high-level officials have generally stressed that they do not seek "decoupling" from China, but they have also continued to raise "de-risk" with China. In this regard, Qin Gang pointed out during his visit to Europe that China is Europe's partner in dealing with risks, and China exports insurance rather than risk to Europe and the world. He called on China and the EU to unanimously oppose "decoupling and breaking the chain" and jointly adhere to the correct direction of economic globalization. He also urged China and the EU to jointly oppose the "new cold war" and take the lead in promoting coordination and benign interaction among major countries.

Regarding Qin Gang's concern about "de-risking" raised by China, Zheng Chunrong analyzed to this reporter that "de-risking" will eventually be "pan-security", and its implementation into specific policy measures will harm the normal economic, trade, and scientific and technological cooperation between China and the EU. For example, Zheng Chunrong said that in the past, only Chinese investment in Europe enterprises will face scrutiny, whether foreign investment will be introduced in the future, and more European countries will intervene in the market economy, which is worth being vigilant about.

Regarding the future direction of China-EU relations, Zheng Chunrong believes that there are generally positive signals, but there are still challenges. For example, the new China strategy, "de-risking", and the plan to impose the eleventh round of sanctions against Russia may involve Chinese companies, etc., "If they ignore our concerns, China will definitely give the necessary response." ”

At a press conference held on May 5, Yu Yaozhi said that a high-level dialogue will be held in the second half of this year, and China and the EU will reach agreements and make progress in more areas. "The EU looks forward to holding high-level economic and trade dialogues, digital dialogues and climate dialogues with China, and looks forward to making progress on things that have been stagnant for the past three years." (Source: Beijing Daily)