The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said yesterday in Beijing, at the end of the European Union’s summit with China, that she took the opportunity to “explain European concerns and expectations” to the Chinese leaders on the complex relationship. between the two blocks. Von der Leyen ended the meeting recognizing that it will still be necessary to “seek progress” on “fundamental” issues, giving as examples “trade and investment, [e] the economy”.
“We trade 2.3 billion euros worth of goods every day,” Von der Leyen told Chinese President Xi Jinping, demonstrating “the importance of trade ties with China.” However, he noted that the trade balance is “critically out of balance”. The President of the Commission recalled that “our trade deficit was almost EUR 400 billion”, while “20 years ago it was ten times smaller”, i.e. “EUR 40 billion”, and stressed that the trade deficit has only increased over the past two years doubled. years.
“This fact is a cause for great concern,” admitted the head of the community administrator, who emphasized to the “Chinese representatives” that these “imbalances are simply unsustainable” and have “well-known root causes” that have been extensively discussed with Beijing. “They range from the lack of access of European companies to the Chinese market, to the preferential treatment of national Chinese companies and the overcapacity of Chinese production.” And while there are “several regions that are already closing their markets to Chinese products,” Europe’s industrial base is “being harmed by unfair competition.” And that “European leaders will not be able to tolerate this,” he emphasized to Xi Jinping.
“I am happy that we agreed with President Xi that trade between the two blocs must be balanced,” said the President of the European Commission, who also pointed out the risk of excessive “dependency”, which is especially evident during the Covid crisis emerged. -19. “We don’t want decoupling from China, what we want is decoupling from risks,” Von der Leyen emphasized.
Russian aggression against Ukraine was among the topics raised by European representatives, as well as one of the most prominent on the summit’s agenda. Von der Leyen warned of “the flagrant violation of international law and the Charter of the United Nations” that the war represents, and that it “poses a serious threat to European security.” With these arguments, “the EU recalled the need for China to use all its influence on Moscow, to end the war, including “refraining from supplying Russia with lethal equipment,” and to “prevent Russian attempts to undermine its impact.” of sanctions”.
“Finally, we have expressed to China our concerns about tensions in the region, especially in the Taiwan Strait,” von der Leyen stressed. In this context, the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, recalled that the EU maintains its position in favor of the idea of ’One China’, recognizing Beijing as the representative of the entire nation. But, as von der Leyen emphasized, the EU “strongly opposes any form of unilateral change to the status quo in Taiwan, especially through the use of force.” “Increased instability in the East and South China Seas endangers global prosperity and regional security,” he said.
Source: DN
