On the second day of his visit to China as part of the EU-China strategic dialogue (see EUROPE 132710/17) on Friday 13 October, the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, highlighted the “conflictual interdependence” between the EU and China and the importance of restoring mutual trust, which has been “eroded”.
“We have work to do to restore this trust”, he said in a public speech at Peking University, stressing the importance of promoting “human exchanges between the EU and China”.
Unbalanced commercial relations
The purpose of this visit and meeting with the Chinese Foreign Minister, Yi Wang, is to lay the foundations for the bilateral summit to be held later this year, and to defend Europe’s “de-risking” strategy (see EUROPE 13213/2) vis-à-vis its “partner and rival” in terms of trade.
“We do €2.3 billion of trade per day, which benefits both sides, but we must be alert when almost 95% of our imports in key sectors for the digital revolution come from only one source”, warned Mr Borrell. “The concept of ‘de-risking’ therefore consists of diversifying our suppliers”.
Emphasising the “unbalanced” nature of the trade relationship, the head of European diplomacy was keen to point out that European companies were encountering persistent difficulties in accessing the Chinese market, at a time when “European investment in China is at its lowest level since 2018”.
Geopolitical tensions
On the subject of geopolitical tensions, Mr Borrell once again spoke of his lack of understanding of China’s “ambivalent” stance towards Russia and its war of aggression in Ukraine, and called on China to use its influence to reverse Russia’s decision to withdraw from the Black Sea Grain Initiative (see EUROPE 13224/8).
He also reiterated the importance of maintaining open channels of communication and working to de-escalate tensions with Taiwan.
Finally, the discussions also covered the recent Hamas attacks in Israel (see other news).
At a joint press conference, Mr Borrell explicitly condemned the Hamas attack, while Mr Wang maintained that “China condemns all attacks on civilians and all violations of international law”.
He also attributed the cause of the conflict to “a historical injustice” against the Palestinians, saying that “Israel has the right to be a State and Palestine also has the right to be a State, but who will be concerned about the survival of the Palestinians? The Israeli nation is no longer displaced in the world. When can the Palestinian nation return to its homeland?”
Mr Borrell said that both parties had agreed that the two-state solution was the only stable solution and that this required a commitment from the international community. (Original version in French by Pauline Denys)