The Secretary General of the European External Action Service (EEAS), Stefano Sannino, and the US Deputy Secretary of State, Wendy Sherman, held the third EU-US High-Level Dialogue on China on Thursday 21 April, at which they reiterated their common position: the EU and the US urge Beijing not to allow Russia to circumvent sanctions and not to provide any assistance whatsoever to Russian aggression.
“I hope that China takes the right lessons out of the Russia-Ukraine crisis and that they understand that the US, and our allies and partners, will not be divided by anyone” said the US Deputy Secretary of State.
Furthermore, both speakers expressed their concern about disinformation in China and manipulation of information, in particular about the Russian invasion.
Ms Sherman and Mr Sannino stressed the importance of continued implementation and enforcement of sanctions against Russia and Belarus and coordination of security assistance to Ukraine. “What we are aiming for is a strategic failure for Vladimir Putin and the Kremlin. And I believe that is already happening, that no matter what happens…Ukraine is going to survive”, Sherman told a Friends of Europe conference the day before.
Condemning the “continuous bombardment” of civilians and civilian infrastructure by the Russian armed forces, they stressed that there could be no impunity for war crimes. The US and the EU plan to “coordinate their activities to ensure that perpetrators are held accountable”, says the joint statement issued at the end of the two-and-a-half-day discussion.
The two leaders also stressed the need to address the negative impact of Russia’s invasion on global food security through a coordinated effort, in close cooperation with international bodies.
The EU-US high-level dialogue on China also provided an opportunity to revisit Beijing’s recent economic coercion against Lithuania. “EU and U.S. objectives will continue to focus squarely on upholding international law and principles” the statement said.
They also condemned human rights violations in Xinjiang.
Indo-Pacific
On Friday 22 April, before closing their meeting, Wendy Sherman and Stefano Sannino held the second high-level consultations on the Indo-Pacific. Both the EU and the US have embarked on their respective strategies to increase their presence in the region. The ‘Global Gateway’ (EU) and ‘Build Back Better World’ (US) initiatives aim to counter China’s ‘New Silk Road’ project through funding, investment, connectivity projects, etc. They discussed possible synergies around these initiatives and agreed to maintain close consultations on their respective strategies.
The aim is to support sustainable projects, to strengthen connectivity, the presence in the maritime sector, to work on child labour, but also to intensify the fight against disinformation. “We want to try to support media literacy, make sure there is an impact in capability to counter narratives”, Sannino told EUROPE.
Workers’ rights, in particular child labour, are also issues they want to address in this region, according to their joint statement.
The two speakers finally jointly condemned last year’s military coup in Myanmar.
They announced that the next high-level meetings of the China Dialogue and Indo-Pacific Consultations would be held towards the end of the year.
Ms Sherman and Mr Sannino also discussed the Western Balkans, Mali and the Sahel and Afghanistan.
See the joint statement: https://aeur.eu/f/1bx (Original version in French by Léa Marchal and Camille-Cerise Gessant)