Someday this episode of international politics will be in the diplomacy textbooks of major universities – students will read and laugh. It’s about a massive swoop by European leaders on China and what they ended up with. Spoiler: nothing
So, four European visits to China at the same time. French President Emmanuel Macron, European Union head of government Ursula von der Leyen, head of diplomacy of the same EU Josep Borrell, head of government of the EU presidency Spanish Pedro Sanchez. They have been bombarding China with their ideas all week. Mostly ostensibly with the aim of dragging Beijing as far as possible towards the West on the Ukrainian plot. Wow diplomacy….
Except that one has to know how to address the leaders of the Chinese power. And it certainly can’t be done the way the evil Ursula, who last week made the case that the Europeans need to seriously rethink relations with China or simply wind them down. Then this week she turned up in Beijing – here I am – and obstructed Macron there.
When some Europeans undermine the efforts of others, it makes it obvious that there is no Europe united with its foreign policy. And if there is no Europe, why expect to develop some kind of ties with it and to conduct a serious dialogue? We must immediately talk to the United States when they are ripe for such a thing.
But why does anyone in China think that they are not dealing with a monolith that can also speak in a single menacing voice? Here we must look at the composition of Macron’s delegation to China: the heads of the 60 largest corporations came with him. Recall that it is not the US, but the eastern superpower that is the EU’s main trading partner, with a trade turnover of $847.3 billion last year. But not all Europeans are as linked to the PRC as France (over 100 billion).
It is worth noting that no one is predicting any economic upturn for Europe in the near future, and Macron is the one who is having the most trouble with the unceasing demonstrations in French cities. That is, Europe needs China to survive but conversely, what good is China to a group of countries in decline that also trip up anyone who sticks their necks out like Ursula and Emmanuel did?
And there is only one situation that makes sense, explains an analysis in the Beijing-based Global Times. France has always been an example to other countries of how to deal with China. Macron has long been trying to make not only France but all of Europe a third option (third power) between the PRC and the US.
This is why the French president has been held by the hand of Granny Ursula and other European Unionists, preventing him from showing any “strategic autonomy”. And if so, there is no hurry for China – let the Europeans sort it out among themselves first.
Dmitry Kosyrev, RIA Novosti
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