| Author (Person) | Crossick, Stanley |
|---|---|
| Series Title | European Voice |
| Series Details | Vol.10, No.19, 27.5.04 |
| Publication Date | 27/05/2004 |
| Content Type | News |
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By Stanley Crossick Date: 27/05/04 THE Far East Economic Review recently carried the headline "China's love affair with Europe". But there appear to be both love and pragmatism in China's affair with Europe. First, there is a realization of how much China has in common with, and can learn from, the EU. Second, there is a disillusionment with the United States. During a recent series of seminars on implications of European Union enlargement for China in Beijing, Guangzou and Shanghai, the audiences proved to be impressively knowledgeable. A flavour of the interest in enlargement can be grasped from the questions asked:
These questions reveal understanding of specific issues but also concern for the underlying geopolitical implications of the Union's expansion. This has obvious reasons: the EU-25 is now China's largest trading partner, while China is the Union's second-largest. The frequency of high level political contacts between China and the EU is impressive. Chinese premier Wen Jiabao visited several member states earlier this month. His visit was preceded by trips to China by European Commission President Romano Prodi, Commissioners Philippe Busquin, Franz Fischler, Pascal Lamy, Erkki Liikanen, Mario Monti and Margot Wallström, as well as the EU's High Representative for Foreign Affairs Javier Solana. This all confirms the increased cooperation between China and Europe. But there is an underlining willingness to focus on the longer term, with Wen Jiabao seeking an all-round strategic partnership in terms of a ten-15 year perspective, with upgraded political relations, high level meetings and intense networking. Both parties have produced strategy papers on their maturing relations, which show the preoccupation for developing a long-term partnership. The Council of Ministers endorsed on 13 October 2003 the EU's latest policy paper, A maturing partnership: shared interests and challenges in EU- China relations. But the Commission's 1998 communication on Building a Comprehensive Partnership with China is still the reference for the Union's thinking. This established the aims of engaging Beijing through an upgraded political dialogue; supporting China's transition to an open society based upon the rule of law and respect for human rights; integrating China further into the world's economy and supporting economic and social reform as well as sustainable development, and; raising the EU's profile in China. Beijing released its first ever policy paper on the EU in October 2003, which recognized the importance of the Union as a strategic partner for China. There has existed for some time high-level EU-China political and human rights dialogues, to which there has just been added high-level trade policy, textile and competition dialogues. The December 2004 summit is likely to consolidate this progress. There are, however, current problems over the lifting of the arms embargo which the Union imposed on China following the repression of the Tiananmen Square protests in 1989, the giving of full market economy status to China and recent EU anti-dumping measures. But the most controversial issue concerns China's human rights record. It is broadly understood in Beijing that economic liberalization is likely to lead to political reform and democratization, but the government clearly seeks to control its pace and manner. The Chinese government argues that economic rights have priority over human rights, or, put another way, bread comes before freedom - a reasonable assertion if not used as an excuse for repression. It is, therefore, essential that the Union treats the human rights dialogue as an ongoing priority, but using old-fashioned discreet diplomacy rather than the megaphone, media-driven version: press freedom might be a good starting point. Chinese ratification of the UN's covenant on civil and political rights is long overdue. The government's use of its influence in Hong Kong to slow down democratization has also given rise to concern - this cannot be in the interests of China's economic and Taiwan policies. However, it does not require much knowledge of the Chinese to know that carrots are likely to succeed, whereas sticks can be counterproductive. One of the least known successes has been the China-Europe International School, set up by the Commission and the Chinese foreign trade ministry in 1994. This has received high international recognition and has become self-supporting financially. It is hoped that the subsidy will in future be used to fund another high profile project. The possibility of setting up a China-Europe Law School, which would be well received in China and do much to promote the rule of law, is one that is now being actively considered. Another worthwhile project would be to set up a website in which Chinese and European organizations wishing to develop mutual relations can register. A China-EU think-tank round table is being planned to feed in new ideas to the authorities in Beijing and Brussels. The current Chinese love affair with Europe creates a window of opportunity in China for European companies to pursue business opportunities and for NGOs to help build an open society. A major, strategic and coordinated effort by all the European stakeholders is needed in order to fully exploit this opportunity. It is essential then that the Commission acts, as well as thinks, strategically and that both China and the European Union clearly identify and pursue their shared interests.
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| Source Link | http://www.european-voice.com/ |
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| Countries / Regions | China |
