There is a need for the European Union to consider China as a competitor

Brussels: Considering China as the chief competitor, the European Union should limit its cooperation with this country. It should include cooperation in both political and economic fields. The Department of Foreign Affairs of the European Union has advised that China was an effective competitor for European countries, the US, and other like-minded countries. There is a need to plan a strict policy considering the challenges China poses at present and in the future. The State Department’s report also emphasised increasing cooperation with other countries in the Indo-Pacific region while implementing a strict policy against China.

The Foreign Department of the Federation, known as The European External Action Service, has prepared a new report on China. This report was submitted to the Federation member countries and will be discussed in the meeting on Monday. It was said that the Foreign Ministers of the member countries of the Federation would discuss the report and decide on a possible policy framework regarding China. A senior Federation official said that the new report from the State Department confirmed that China will not change its policies and that the Federation now recognised China as a political and economic rival.

The pandemic of Coronavirus and then the issues of Xinjiang, Taiwan and the Russia-Ukraine conflict constantly escalated tussles between China and the European Union. Due to China’s stance on the Russia-Ukraine issue, the European countries were deeply displeased, and the tension between the two sides has festered more. A new report from the State Department seems to indicate that these tensions have gone beyond resolution. Germany announced last month that it would implement a new policy by changing its trade policy with China to reduce its growing dependence on China. Germany is a leading European country, and the announcement from Germany explicitly indicates that Europe and China are drifting apart.

Germany’s Trade Minister Habeck said that China was certainly welcome as a trading partner, but Germany will not tolerate China’s protectionist policies that harm trade competition. He added that the human rights abuses in China would not be ignored because the trade would be affected. Germany’s Trade Minister Habeck warned China aggressively, ‘We cannot allow ourselves to be blackmailed.’

From the statement made by the German Trade Minister, it seems that European countries, including Germany, are preparing to change their policy towards China. Earlier in the report released in 2021, the Federation had also mentioned China as a competitor.