The head of European Union (EU) diplomacy, Josep Borrell, defended on Tuesday the need to speak with China to safeguard European interests, but warned of the dangers of excessive dependence on the Asian country.
“We need to talk, we need to work, we need to trade and negotiate with China”Borrell said in the plenary session of the European Parliament (EP), which takes place in the French city of Strasbourg until this Thursday.
In a debate on EU-China relations, Borrell recalled that the European leaders confirmed, in October, their policy towards Beijing and agreed on the need for unity “in all aspects” of the relationship with the Asian country.
Without unity, we will lose credibility and influence, both vis-a-vis China and globally,” he said.
The Vice President of the European Commission also warned, however, that the EU’s dependence on China must not become a vulnerabilityas happened with Russia in the energy field.
Borrell said that eight out of 10 solar panels imported into Europe are Chinese-made and that the EU trades in goods on a daily basis. worth 2,000 million dollars (more than 1,940 million euros) with china
“Our reliance on China for the green transition could be just as important in the future as our reliance on Russian fossil fuels has been today,” he said.
Borrell recognized that China is a country that generates divergent opinions, as in the EP, especially in matters of human rights.
For this reason, he defended the need to “obtain a synthesis of the different points of view and maintain a strong unity.”
Borrel said the EU’s attention to China has not diminished with the war in Ukraine, which Russia started nine months ago.
While China has yet to condemn the war, Borrell said it had “drawn clear red lines” on the use of nuclear weapons and was “increasingly concerned about the global consequences” of the conflict.
He also recalled that Europe and China have different political systems and see “democracy and human rights differently”, but said that the relationship with Beijing cannot harm the defense of European principles and values. “That is why we must have a clear, firm and sustained strategy in relation to China”he claimed.
Borrel also defended the establishment of strategic alliances with other countries, such as Asian and Central Asian countries.
“We have to work together because what happens in our relations with China will define this century,” he added.
Source: Observadora
