Beijing Did Not Make Concessions and Turned the China – EU Summit into a Diplomatic Failure for the Europeans

At the end of July, the 25th China-EU summit was held in the capital of the People’s Republic of China. The summit was a jubilee and was dedicated to the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the parties. Despite this fact, the negotiations were strictly businesslike even tough in nature – without salutes and fireworks. It is noteworthy that the scenario for the failure began to be written a month before the meeting. Initially, the forum was planned to be held in Brussels – in turn, as required by protocol. But China, in an ultimatum, demanded that the summit be moved to Beijing. A week before the meeting, Chinese diplomats coldly informed Brussels: “We will not come. If you want, come to us.” Brussels gave in.

Moreover, when Ursula von der Leyen and other members of the EU delegation got off the plane at Beijing airport at 5 a.m. on July 24, there was a banner on the jetway that said a lot: “Welcome to the capital of the world.” No flowers, no red carpet – just a third-ranking Chinese Foreign Ministry official with a smile. That was how the most humiliating day in the history of European diplomacy began. Then the Chinese side announced that they were shortening the summit from two days to one, leaving the Europeans without full-fledged negotiations. The culmination was a quiet scandal: confirmation of the meeting of EU leaders with Chinese President Xi Jinping came only 48 hours before it began, forcing the European delegation to change tickets in an emergency mode. Thus, before it even began, the China-EU summit turned into a textbook example of the geopolitical humiliation of Europeans.

Brussels is unlikely to be satisfied with the course of the negotiations. In particular, the head of the European Commission (EC) Ursula von der Leyen, who, by the way, accused China of dumping and supporting Russia’s defense sector on the eve of the meeting in Beijing, spoke evasively about a “turning point” in the relations between the parties, which gave rise to various reflections. For example, the British agency Reuters, interpreting von der Leyen’s wording in its own way, writes that she called for a “rebalancing” of relations. And there is much to “rebalance” in the relations between Beijing and Brussels. Suffice it to say that the EU’s trade deficit with China reached $360 billion last year, i.e. it has almost doubled in nine years and continues to increase this year. This is a negative economic component of cooperation between the parties.

But there are also political differences. The EU is demanding that Beijing sacrifice its national interests for the sake of improving relations with Brussels. In particular, it is demanding that it limit its close cooperation with Moscow. According to Ursula von der Leyen, China’s ties with Russia are currently the “defining factor” in its relations with the EU. And the head of the European Council, Antonio Costa, who arrived in Beijing with her, called on China to “use its influence” to help put an end to Russia’s “aggressive war” in Ukraine.

However, the Chinese leadership apparently does not intend to respond to all sorts of accusations and threats from EU leaders, which was clearly demonstrated by the summit in Beijing. Thus, during negotiations with the EU leadership, Chinese President Xi Jinping clearly indicated that the discussion should be conducted not so much about trade duties, but about how to maintain the order in the world that was established after World War II, how to help end conflicts on the planet. Moreover, he called on the EU to become an independent force in the international arena along with China, Russia and the United States. The Chinese leader emphasized that Beijing will remain Moscow’s partner in the future, and its position on Ukraine remains the same. The Chinese side is convinced that Russian-Chinese relations are valuable in themselves and do not depend on contacts between Beijing and Brussels.

Perhaps such a tough position of official Beijing at the negotiations forced Ms. von der Leyen to urgently “change her shoes” and declare in the Chinese capital that the EU’s relations with China are of great importance and valuable in them and they allegedly do not depend on the problems arising with other countries. This admission, apparently, did not come easy for her, since the face of the head of the EC showed how irritated and dissatisfied she was with what was happening. After all, during the negotiations, Xi Jinping called on the leaders of the European Union to “properly manage differences,” stating that “the current challenges facing Europe do not come from China.” The Chinese leader also expressed hope that the EU would maintain the openness of its market and refrain from imposing sanctions. Earlier, we recall, the European Union imposed restrictions on the export of Chinese electric cars due to excess production.

Here, it is perhaps worth noting that Europe does not consider its relations with China in isolation from the United States – and for this reason is unable to even define what China is to it. Brussels simultaneously calls Beijing a cooperation partner, an economic competitor, and a systemic rival. “The EU’s tripartite positioning towards China is like a green, yellow, and red light burning simultaneously. Not only does it not guide the movement, but it only creates difficulties and obstacles,” said China’s Ambassador to the EU Cai Jun.

Perhaps, it is for this reason that not a single serious issue between the parties was resolved at the China-EU summit in Beijing. And the summit ended quite symbolically: a joint press conference was cancelled. Von der Leyen and Costa were forced to comment on the results of the meeting separately – standing by a taxi at the Beijing airport. And behind them, a billboard eloquently proclaimed: “Made in China – for a world without borders!” It is noteworthy that on the day of the summit, the Chinese newspaper South China Morning Post published a column with the damning phrase: “The first two world wars began in Europe.” The hint was transparent: you are the aggressors, and we are the guarantors of peace.

In fact, the only positive decision of the China-EU summit held in the Chinese capital was the agreement of the two sides to continue to fight climate change. In particular, they called for a reduction in harmful emissions into the atmosphere and a more active use of “green technologies.” Well, China also promised to modernize export controls on rare earths, although it is not yet entirely clear how this will look in practice. True, it should be acknowledged that following the summit, the parties also decided to create a mechanism for identifying bottlenecks in relations between the EU and China. And that’s all. Therefore, it is safe to say that Ms. von der Leyen and Co. left the Chinese capital with empty suitcases…

The fact that the Beijing summit ended in failure for the EU is eloquently demonstrated by the headlines in the world media: “Europe is no longer a first-rank player. It is being humiliated – and it is already grateful for the opportunity to be humiliated”; “China is betting on the Global South, where the EU is not a teacher, but a supplicant”; “The failure of the summit is the final act of European naivety”. As a result, the European Union received only a photo with Xi Jinping, but not a signature on important documents. In conclusion, I would like to note that in Brussels, according to some experts, they still believe that China will “come to its senses” and change its policy. However, in response to this, the Chinese Foreign Ministry unequivocally stated: “The summit was beneficial to the world”, which in Chinese diplomatic language means: “We showed who the boss here is”.

Sergey Saenko, International Observer

 

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