EU should beware US leading it astray

Speaking at the European Parliament following the EU’s decision to put the brakes on ratifying its investment deal with China, Mick Wallace, a member of the European Parliament from Ireland, asked how far the bloc was willing to go in being “led along by the nose” by Americans “who have a vested interest in challenging China at the moment”.

Although Wallace has been outspoken in praising China’s performance in poverty reduction, infrastructure construction and climate change mitigation, it is the European Union’s interests that motivated his questioning of why the EU was “choosing an aggressive position with China? Why are we not choosing cooperation instead of aggression? Why are we not respecting the principle of state sovereignty and non-interference?” He said that it was in the EU’s interests to be working for peace with China.

He is right in pointing out that it is Washington’s anxiety about losing its financial supremacy to China that has prompted it to try to hype up the so-called China threats, and draw its allies to contain the rise of the country after failing to achieve that on its own under the previous Donald Trump administration.

A simple comparison between the war and aggression track records of the US and China can tell which country should be regarded as a threat to global peace and stability. The US’ military spending has topped the world for decades, mostly for offensive purposes, and it has surpassed the combined total of the next nine highest military spenders for a long time. It has more than 800 military bases overseas at present, and it has only seen 16 years without war at home or abroad since it was founded in 1776.

While the US has repeatedly invaded and meddled in the affairs of other countries and regions, China has been striving to lift its people out of poverty and seek breakthroughs in technology and contribute to the common development of the world.

While the US exported its financial crisis and is seeking to bail out its economy by printing banknotes irrespective of the costs of doing so for other economies, China has stabilized the renminbi’s exchange rate to help cushion the world from the repercussions of the US’ loose monetary policy, and it is trying to boost its economy to drive global growth.

While the US is calling on the world to target China and the World Health Organization rather than the novel coronavirus, China has worked closely with the WHO and other countries to fight this common enemy, and it is the largest source of essential medical supplies to the world.

The simultaneous decay of Washington’s spirit of multilateralism and willingness to abide by rules and its deteriorated sense of responsibility means the US regards countries as being either stepping stones to its own goals or not.

It is thus justified for Wallace to press the EU to be wary of relinquishing its independence of action and being led astray by the US.