Fri, May 05, 2023 page8

• Europeans see through Xi’s ploys

  • By Manik Mehta
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  French President Emmanuel Macron and German Minister for Foreign Affairs Annalena Baerbock recently presented a sharp contrast in their respective exchanges with Beijing. While Macron adopted an appeasing tone on the question of China possibly invading Taiwan, Baerbock was firm and clear when she rejected the idea during an exchange with her Chinese counterpart, Qin Gang (秦剛).

  Meanwhile, Europeans also realize that China has been using economic coercion to drive a wedge between Europeans.

  Macron, whose comments in Beijing raised the ire of many Western allies and friends, has since that fateful China trip been quiet on the Taiwan issue, as he is facing a domestic storm of public anger over his pension reforms.

  Macron at the time said that Europe should not simply follow the US’ hawkish stance and be drawn into the crisis over Taiwan, which is a US ally, but which, at China’s behest, does not get basic recognition as a sovereign entity.

  However, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who visited Beijing with Macron, made it clear that China invading Taiwan would be unacceptable.

  On her return from China, Von der Leyen again warned Beijing in an address to the European Parliament against using force in the Taiwan Strait.

  The EU has “consistently called for peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, and we stand strongly against any unilateral change of the status quo, in particular by the use of force,” she said.

  Von der Leyen is not the only prominent European politician to repudiate Macron’s statements in Beijing.

  Baerbock, who visited China shortly after Macron and Von der Leyen left, said — much to her Chinese counterpart’s annoyance — that a forced unilateral change in Taiwan’s status would be “unacceptable” to Europe.

  While emphasizing that Europe remains committed to its “one China” policy, Baerbock expressed concern over the current situation in the Taiwan Strait, saying that a military escalation in the Strait would create a “horror scenario for the whole world.”

  Qin, on his part, said the world needed to “respect that Taiwan is part of China.”

  He added that tensions in the Taiwan Strait had been provoked by “foreign forces,” an obvious reference to the US’ presence in the region to counter China’s growing assertiveness.

  Expressing similar views, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell reinforced the European position that “any attempt to change the status quo [of Taiwan] by force is unacceptable.”

  China’s tone and action on Taiwan have become harsher, particularly after last year’s visit to Taipei by then-US House of Representatives speaker Nancy Pelosi, followed by President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) stopover this year in the US, where she met with US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

  Qin was also irked when Baerbock raised the question of human rights in China and what is perceived by the West as Beijing’s lackadaisical attitude toward climate change.

  The Chinese foreign minister underscored the need for “mutual respect,” telling Baerbock that “China does not need a master teacher from the West.”

  Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is trying to drive a wedge not just among Europeans, but between Europe and the US, looking for opportunities to instigate dissent between them.

  While some European countries, including France, have over the years become heavily dependent on trade and business with China — Macron’s rejection of France becoming a US “vassal” was probably sweet music to Xi’s ears — other Europeans are resisting China’s manipulative attempts to split the Western camp.

  Indeed, even Macron realizes now, seeing the overwhelming negative reaction to his comments in Beijing, that France is as much entrenched in the traditional values of freedom and democracy as other Western countries in opposition to China’s autocratic system.

  China wields enormous power because of its huge market and economic weight. However, this power has increasingly become synonymous with economic coercion, and countries drawn to China for sheer economic reasons will have to pay a price in the end.

  These countries might end up doing China’s — and, in effect, the Chinese Communist Party’s — bidding and forgo their right to speak out against Chinese abuses, including its bullying of smaller and weaker neighbors, suppression of the freedom and individual rights of Tibetans and Uighurs, cracking down on the freedoms guaranteed to Hong Kong and, of course, its belligerence toward Taiwan.

  In a recent conversation I had on the sideline of a press briefing at the New York Foreign Press Center, US Major General John Olson, mobilization assistant to the Chief of Space Operations for the US Space Force, described the Chinese spy balloon, which floated over the skies of the US state of Montana, as a “wake-up call” for US security organs.

  The incident has also alarmed many Europeans who wonder how many such Chinese balloons were floating in the skies over Europe, Olson said.

  Despite the external self-confidence that Xi and his close circle of aides exude, US moves to extricate itself from China’s economic pull and work toward a well-balanced relationship have caused some consternation in China, which fears that Europe might follow Washington’s lead and look at Beijing through a hostile prism, thus thwarting its global ambitions.

  While a complete economic “decoupling” from China might not be desirable or even realistic — Von der Leyen herself said that “decoupling is clearly not viable, desirable, or even practical for Europe” — it is dawning on European leaders that putting all their eggs in the China basket is a risky game, and that it is important to look at other options and diversify.

  Manik Mehta is a New York-based journalist who covers foreign affairs, diplomacy, US bilateral relations, global trade and economics.
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