Jiang Feng

Opinion | US’ anti-China call to arms has not won over all of Europe

Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s tour of Europe comes at a time of heavy US pressure for the EU to step back from its dialogue and cooperation with China

But despite the frosty reception by some, a number of people are voicing support for a more balanced view of China, taking in all facets of the relationship

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Jiang Feng

Published: 3:30am, 1 Sep 2020Updated: 9:11am, 1 Sep 2020

Against the backdrop of Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s visit to Europe, there are signs Germany and the rest of Europe are tilting towards “partial Trumpism”, adversely affecting Sino-European relations. The trust and understanding that was hard-earned through extensive dialogue and cooperation has been undermined, and the relationship as a whole has been politicised.

China is made to seem like a “systemic rival” of Europe. There is a clear trend of increasing hostility in Europe towards China.

Yet, in some ways, there has also been a notable shift in German views about China. On August 17, Der Tagesspiegel published a column titled, “The West has to prove that it offers the better life”, which emphasised the role positive competition plays in Sino-European relations. It pointed out that if Europe can take effective action against internal social divides, then the West does not have to fear China’s rise.

On August 2, the directors of 10 Confucius Institutes in Germany issued a joint statement to decry the politicisation of these institutes. The statement notes that the institutes, which are similar to Germany’s Goethe-Institut, make important contributions to Sino-German academic, cultural and social exchanges.

So far, against a backdrop of negative coverage of China in Europe, these voices are in the minority, but may point to a new direction in European opinion.

03:12

China’s foreign minister begins Europe tour to discuss US influence, Hong Kong issues and Huawei

It’s not strange to see discordance in European views towards China – how to define and develop relations is a great challenge for Europe. This is not only the result of the unprecedented scale and speed of China’s development, but more importantly it reflects a “gap of understanding” on the part of Europe towards a rapidly changing China, which leads to difficulty in categorising it as a partner, competitor or rival.