[ad_1]
But two senior envoys who attended said there was no direct reaction from ministers gathered in Brussels when Blinken said: “We must step back China Show strength together and in unity. ,
Their reticence is partly due to their reluctance to do anything until Washington fully articulates its China policy under the president. Joe Biden,
But ministers were also cautious as the EU seeks a strategic balance in ties with Beijing and Washington that ensures the bloc is not so closely allied with one of the world’s two big powers that it seeks the other. Separate it
EU officials said the EU also expected enough independence from Washington and Beijing to be able to deepen ties with countries in the Indo-Pacific region such as India, Japan and Australia.
In a fresh departure for the EU, he said, the bloc hopes to agree a plan next month that includes a bigger and more assertive security presence in the Indo-Pacific, and more development aid, trade and diplomacy.
“We are taking a third path between Washington and Beijing,” an EU envoy to Asia said.
Another EU official in Asia expressed concern that United States of america “There was a blatant agenda against China, which is not our agenda”.
‘Europe Roadshow’
Last month’s videoconferencing was part of an effort to rebuild coalitions neglected by the former US president under Biden Donald Trumpwho had conflicting relations with both the European Union and China.
The White House has launched a “Europe Roadshow”, a senior US official said, and is in daily contact with European governments about China’s growing power, “in an ongoing effort to … for a number of regions.”
In a sign that US pressure on China is taking a toll, Germany plans to send a frigate in August to Asia and the South China Sea, where Beijing has military posts on artificial islands, senior government officials told Reuters. .
Diplomats said the European Union is set to impose sanctions on human rights abuses in China’s Uighur Muslim minority on March 22, along with a travel ban and asset freeze to four Chinese officials and a unit.
In another sign, when the Chinese President Xi Jinping Chairing a video summit with Central and Eastern European countries last month, six EU member states – Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania and Slovenia – sent ministers instead of heads of state.
But there is still mistrust in Brussels about Washington’s approach to China, even as Beijing’s actions in Hong Kong against China in Europe, its treatment of Uighur Muslims and the COVID-19 pandemic previously identified in China, hardens. have gone
The United States says China is an authoritarian country that has launched a military modernization that threatens the West, and has sought to undermine the telecommunications equipment maker. Huaweiwhich he sees as a threat to national security.
The US-led NATO military alliance has also begun to focus on China, but Biden’s administration is still reviewing the policy.
“We ask what is their China strategy and they say they still don’t have one,” said the EU official in Asia.
President of France Emmanuel Macron Last month sparked concerns in some EU states that uniting against China would create the “highest possible” potential for conflict.
‘no option’
But the EU is hungry for new trade and sees the Indo-Pacific as offering vast possibilities.
The EU has a trade agreement with Japan and is in talks with Australia. Diplomats say countries in the Indo-Pacific want the EU to be more proactive in keeping trade free and open in the region, and to ensure they do not face a direct choice between Beijing and Washington. are.
France committed to closer ties with allies such as Australia and India with an Indo-Pacific strategy in 2018, followed by the Netherlands, which also has its own strategy, and Germany with a loose set of “guidelines”.
Diplomats said the EU strategy would, if agreed, include EU military experts in EU diplomatic missions in Asia, training coast guards and serving on Australian ships patrolling the Indian Ocean. This may include sending military personnel to the European Union.
It is unclear how committed Germany, which has close trading ties with China, will be to any new strategy. German government officials say the EU cannot afford to isolate Beijing in 2019 despite labeling China as a “systemic rival”.
But French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian will visit India in April to develop the EU’s Indo-Pacific strategy, and the EU aims to hold a summit with India this year.
France, which has 1.8 million civilians in its Pacific Ocean, has about 4,000 troops in the region, as well as naval ships and patrol boats.
“The Indo-Pacific is the cornerstone of Europe’s geopolitical path,” said a French diplomat. “there is no substitute.”
[ad_2]
Source link
