CHINA AND THE EU： NEW STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP

 

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『CHINA AND THE EU： NEW STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP』

 

The relation of china and EU has been kept consistent for about 40years. Before 1990s, Chinese scholars were not very much informed about EU and its security power nor the fact how it goes. Today, Chinese know the status of EU in the world and how the European union works. On the other hand, many countries in Europe also know the status and value of china in contemporary world.

 

For example, even the British government which supporting the independence of Uyghur people is also welcoming the visit of Chinese leaders to the UK and opening to arms wide to investments and other Chinese-led projects. I strongly believe they are also know how the things going. If they don’t want to join these kinds of projects, would they be able to pull back? I think it will not happen in my life. This kind of analysis is derived by the fact that China would have potential to be a leading power in worldwide.

 

How to define EU-China relation? At first; let’s take a look about the history of their relation. They have been maintained about 40 years of relation. Relations between the European Union and the People's Republic of China were established in 1975. After the end of the Cold War, relations with Europe were not as high a priority for China as its relations with the US, Japan and other Asian powers. However interest in closer relations started to rise as economic contacts to grow a multi-polar system

 

A major point of contention in relations is the EU's arms ban to China. The EU arms embargo on China was imposed by the EU on the People's Republic of China in response to its suppression of the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989.

France viewed the ban as anachronistic and refused to consider attaching reforms in China as a condition, stating that "China would not accept human rights conditionality." Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Greece, Italy and the UK were all broadly in the French camp. Germany, Denmark, Netherlands and Sweden wished to attach a lifting of the ban to "specific Chinese steps on human rights." All agreed in principle if certain conditions were met then the ban should be lifted. Various EU heads of state have objected to the embargo or supported its continued existence.

The European Parliament has been consistently against removing the embargo. However, High Representative Catherine Ashton put forward plans for lifting the embargo in 2010, arguing that "The current arms embargo is a major impediment for developing stronger EU-China co-operation on foreign policy and security matters." The Chinese ambassador to the EU Song Zhe agreed, noting that "it doesn't make any sense to maintain the embargo.

While the embargo remains, China buys much of its arms from Russia. China had turned to Israel for surveillance planes, but under pressure from the U.S., Israel refused to go through with the deal. Despite the ban, another leaked US cable suggested that in 2003 the EU sold €400 million of "defence exports" to China, and later approved other sales of military grade submarine and radar technology

 

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After “Tiananmen”, the economic sanction on china had unlimited in1992. both economic relations and political dialogues rapidly developed at that time. China's growing economy attracted many European visitors and in turn Chinese businessmen began to make frequent trips to Europe. Europe's interest in China led to the EU becoming unusually active with China during the 1990s with high-level exchanges. EU-Chinese trade increased faster than the Chinese economy itself, tripling in ten years from USD14.3 billion in 1985 to USD45.6 billion in 1994.

 

The 1998 EU-China summit and frequent policy documents desiring closer partnerships with China. Although the 1997 Asian financial crisis dampened investor’s enthusiasm, Chinese leaders were anxious to return the European interest and made high focus of EU trade throughout the 1990s, China became Europe's fourth largest trading partner at that time.

 

Nowadays china aggressively invest infrastructure in Europe. Taking advantage of EU financial crisis in 2008, Chinese national enterprise bought the port of Athens for 35years. It means that China had two big market for business, Africa and EU. And also bought the railroad to directly connect to both continent. PRC want to make Athens as a major herb of distribution. 

 

PRC is also aggressively bought EU’s national bond. Of course it is aim for high return, but more important thing is China don’t want the economic collapse of EU. Because EU is one of big market for Chinese product, PRC partly cover and take care of EU’s financial crisis.

 

How do they think of each other? And how would it be EU-china relations in a new era. There is an gap on understanding each other. EU’s imagination is this. China’s domestic change would make a big difference in global affairs, if Strategic partnership or cooperative (competitive) partnership with China, EU would grasp the chance to make multi-polar world by china effect. The china’s official position is not officially mentioned. However, this is the fact that Europe is never important for china due to its weak position politically and economically. But EU is still important economically and politically as an regional polar although it is not an easy partner.

 

I strongly believe that working together more closely, we should point at New style, new leadership, more pragmatic p2p communication, and making together new preference (lack of intention to use each other as balancer to the US).