One of the EU’s aims at the bilateral summit on Friday 1 April was to send a clear message to China that Russia’s war in Ukraine threatens the world order and that both the EU and China have a role to play.
The President of the European Council, Charles Michel, and the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, consider this mission accomplished. The other objective was to initiate a dialogue and to try to prevent Beijing from moving closer to Russia. While China has claimed to want to act for peace, it has not concretely moved towards the West’s position.
Charles Michel and Ursula von der Leyen had a two-hour meeting with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, followed by a one-hour meeting with President Xi Jinping, which was also attended by the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell.
At the end of the summit, “the EU and China agreed that the war threatens global security and the world economy”, said Charles Michel.
The assurance that China wants to work for international peace is about the only guarantee obtained during this day of video conference meetings. “China has promoted peace and talks in its own way and will continue to play a constructive role in the international community”, Li Keqiang said after the summit.
The EU has stressed to its interlocutors the importance of promoting an end to the war in Ukraine, using several rational arguments.
“We made it clear China should, if not support, at least not interfere with the sanctions that the EU has imposed on Russia. We discussed this, and also the fact that no EU citizen would understand any support for Russia’s ability to wage war. It would lead to major reputational damage for China here in Europe”, said the Commission President. For her, the economic ties between the EU and China are a strong reason not to further damage the ties between the two powers.
Asked about China’s response to these remarks, Charles Michel expressed hope, rather than assurance. “They repeated their commitment to peace. We hope that our arguments have been heard on the Chinese side”, he said.
Difficult bilateral issues also discussed
The EU did not fail to raise the points of tension that have characterised its relations with China for several months: - Chinese trade restrictions on Lithuania; - the need for fair access for European companies to Chinese public procurement; - Chinese sanctions against EU bodies and MEPs (see EUROPE 12683/1, 12708/6). On all these points, Ms von der Leyen was firm.
Again, China has not sent clear positive signals. According to a European source, no real change was to be expected from Beijing on these points anyway. However, leaders agreed to ask the ‘High-Level Economic and Trade Dialogue’ to make concrete progress on these issues before the summer, as well as to extend the list of protected geographical indications between the EU and China.
The World Trade Organization (WTO) dispute between China and the EU over trade restrictions on Lithuania continues. The European Commission is currently examining China’s responses to the questions posed by the EU. With the 60-day consultation period just over, the EU is now free to call for a dispute settlement body if it is not satisfied with the Chinese response. However, a European official confirmed to EUROPE that the EU was not yet at that stage.
The human rights situation in China was also raised by the Europeans. “We raised concerns about China’s treatment of minorities in Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia, and Tibet, including the crackdown on human rights defenders. We also expressed regret at the dismantling of the ‘one country, two systems’ principle in Hong Kong”, Mr Michel assured.
Li Keqiang, confirmed the resumption of the ‘EU-China Human Rights Dialogue’. This decision represents the main positive point of this summit, according to a European source.
A coalition of NGOs including Human Rights Watch and the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) had called on EU leaders on 18 March not to restart this dialogue with China, which was deemed ineffective.
Finally, EU and Chinese leaders expressed their willingness to cooperate on other international issues, such as climate change and pandemic preparedness. (Original version in French by Léa Marchal)