EU LEADERS PRESS CHINA ON RUSSIA, TRADE IMBALANCE
In-person summit was leaders’ first in more than four years
Leaders of the European Union pressed China on the country’s trade imbalance with Europe and its support for Russia during a visit to Beijing on Thursday that highlighted the growing tensions between the two sides.
The meeting, which took place in separate sessions between China’s leaders, President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Qiang, and Charles Michel, the president of the European Council, and Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, was the first in-person summit of the leaders of China and the EU in more than four years.
In her opening remarks, von der Leyen told Xi that it was “essential to put an end to the Russian aggression against Ukraine.” She added that there were “clear imbalances and differences” that the two sides must address on trade.
The European leaders urged China to use its influence over Russia to end its war in Ukraine and withdraw its troops. They also pressed China to help prevent Russia from circumventing sanctions.
“We have been clear since the beginning of the war that how China will position itself vis-à-vis the Russian aggression toward Ukraine, this will define also our relationship,” von der Leyen said after the summit.
No issue has frustrated European officials more than Beijing’s refusal to curtail its support for Moscow. China has aided Russia’s war effort by purchasing Russian oil and supplying the Kremlin’s military with microchips, drones and other equipment that is believed to fall just short of arms and ammunition.
Despite the backlash, China is highly unlikely to abandon Russia, calculating that it needs Moscow in the long run, as a partner in countering the United States’ global dominance.
As expected, the summit did not result in any significant breakthroughs. Trust between China and the EU has been eroded by failed promises to open China’s market wider for European businesses, as well as by Beijing’s crackdown on freedoms in Hong Kong and the northwestern Chinese region of Xinjiang.
China also views Europe as being widely influenced by Beijing’s chief competitor, the United States, and has tried to drive a wedge between the region and Washington.
The war in Ukraine, however, has only strengthened the trans-Atlantic alliance as Europe has grown increasingly reliant on Washington for military aid.
The 27-member European bloc has labeled Beijing a “strategic rival” and agreed in June to work toward “de-risking” its supply chains by limiting their dependence on Chinese firms. The EU has also aligned itself with the United States in adopting restrictions on the trade of high-tech products with China.
According to an official summary from China of Xi’s meeting with the European leaders, Xi urged them to bolster cooperation with China to enhance “political mutual trust” and “eliminate all kinds of interference,” a tacit reference to Washington.