Beijing should be treated as a partner, economic competitor and systemic rival, the high representative of the European Union insisted.
The European Union needs to build its own stability and avoid over-dependence on a partner like China. This was said on November 29 by the head of EU diplomacy, Josep Borrell, speaking at the Indo-Pacific Forum in Brussels, reports Interfax-Ukraine.
China, with its “growing assertiveness,” is at the center of strategic issues in the Indo-Pacific region, he said.
“These days, we see the increasing value of his ‘COVID zero’ policy and the growing concern of the Chinese people about (sanitary) lockdowns. With ‘COVID zero’, it becomes clearer that China is changing, the centralization of power is increasing, and nationalism is on the rise,” he said. EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs.
He recalled that recently the EU Council at the level of foreign ministers and the European Council discussed what all this means for the European Union.
“We agreed that we should follow our “triple approach” to China: as a partner, economic competitor and systemic rival. We cannot look at China from only one side. Our relationship with China is inevitably complicated. But we also know that the ratio of the parts of this “triptych” is changing. The competitive part is growing and becoming dominant,” emphasizes Borrell.
He concluded that with such a partner, it is necessary to increase one’s own stability and avoid excessive dependence.
Earlier, Borrell said that European countries are highly dependent on China, and in some areas more so than on Russian gas.
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Source: korrespondent
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.