Alarmed by Russia’s invasion, Europe rethinks its China ties

Bloomberg

Russia’s war on Ukraine has triggered a profound reassessment in European capitals of their individual and collective relations with China. Confronted by the need to rapidly unwind a dependence on Russian energy built up over decades, government officials from Rome to Prague are re-evaluating the extent of their economic and political ties to China.
Senior lawmakers in Berlin who now concede that such closeness to Russia was a historic liability are starting to see the danger of repeating the mistake with another authoritarian regime, raising alarm bells over Germany’s status as Beijing’s largest European trading partner.
Nations in central and eastern Europe are casting fresh doubt on the wisdom of the so-called 16+1 forum with China. Italy has just strengthened its veto power against foreign takeovers, a measure directed at China.
At the European Union level, attitudes have soured over Beijing’s refusal to condemn Russia’s invasion and its attempts to undermine the transatlantic unity the war fostered. A virtual EU-China summit took place in the context of what a person
familiar with the discussions described as an increasingly challenging relationship.
Against the backdrop of war in Europe, the EU went into the talks with the key priority of calling on China to use its influence with Russia to stop the bloodshed, the person said, adding there was a serious concern that continued inaction by China would have a lasting negative impact on EU relations.
After the summit, a readout from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Beijing said that President Xi Jinping called on Europe to have an “autonomous” view of China, and that the solution to the conflict was to accommodate the “reasonable security concerns of all parties concerned.”
“A dialogue of the deaf” was how the EU’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, described the exchange with China.
After Xi met with Vladimir Putin in early February and declared a “limitless partnership,” Beijing has attempted to stay neutral in the conflict, expressing understanding for the
Russian president’s stance even while defending Ukraine’s
sovereignty.
Beijing is unlikely to welcome the instability and economic turmoil Putin’s war has brought. Yet even if its ability to influence him is limited, the EU argues China has unique channels it can use to try.
The view from a European diplomat in Beijing is that the war is pushing China and Europe further apart, strengthening their systemic rivalry.
The pandemic and Europe’s realisation that it relied on China for basic medical supplies was the wake-up call; Russia’s war on Ukraine bolsters the argument that Europe must reduce its dependence on Beijing, the diplomat added.
“This is really the awakening of the West,” said Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis, whose Baltic nation suffered a collapse in exports to China after it tussled with Beijing over Taiwan, the island democracy China regards as its territory. The EU lodged a complaint with the World Trade Organization in March over China’s treatment of Lithuania.
“The main lesson that we should learn from Russia’s war in Ukraine is that trade alone doesn’t change how authoritarian countries act,” Landsbergis said in an interview in Vilnius.
China overtook the US as the EU’s largest trading partner in 2020, with total trade worth some $868 billion last year.
The war in Ukraine has snarled up already fragile supply chains on trade routes between China and Europe, while adding to soaring costs for energy and raw materials. But geopolitical considerations are also influencing firms operating in China.