euro|topics - China and the EU conversing in Beijing

Main focus of Wednesday, November 28, 2007

China and the EU conversing in Beijing

Dissension is surfacing within the EU concerning which position to adopt facing China. Bones of contention are also piling up between Beijing and the European block, notably on human rights and the weak Yuan. This context will be weighing upon the China-EU summit held this Wednesday, November 28th.

International Herald Tribune - France

"For Europe, the 'China honeymoon' is over", writes David Shambaugh, director of the China Policy Program at George Washington University. "Changes of British, French, and German leaders have also contributed to the change of atmosphere. Gone are the China-fawning Tony Blair, Jacques Chirac and Gerhard Schroeder, replaced by the more China-skeptical Gordon Brown, Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy. ... This changed environment leaves China's Europe watchers flummoxed. They had grown accustomed to the EU playing the role of ardent suitor, but now find the change in Europe's attitude hard to explain to higher-level officials in Beijing. ... Thus the atmosphere going into the EU-China summit meeting Wednesday is sour. Most likely, both sides will put on as positive a face as possible, but expect the acrimony to continue as both sides come to grips with an increasingly complicated relationship." (27/11/2007)

Neue Zürcher Zeitung - Switzerland

"Like many manufacturers, EU representatives also hope China will soon adopt a more open stance to foreign interests, since its leadership realises that it would be in its own best interest to do so," Peter A. Fischer writes with reference to the EU-China summit. "Chinese President Hu Jintao has repeated on several occasions that he wants to promote sustainable, environmentally friendly economic growth. To do this China not only needs more Western technology, it must also focus on making its integration into the global market as smooth as possible, achieving greater legal security and reducing subsidies in the domestic energy sector. However, the EU will first have to demonstrate how it intends to lead a China that is increasingly confident and proud with a carrot and a stick." (28/11/2007)

El País - Spain

"Nicolas Sarkozy continues to add line upon line to his curriculum vitae as a brilliant negotiator", explains the daily after the French president's trip to China this week. Several record-breaking contracts were signed by French nuclear and aeronautical industries during his visit. "There is no mystery behind such fabulous contracts. Sarkozy was very involved in the negotiations, the economic goals were clear and French diplomacy reacted, as always, with discreet pragmatism concerning the demands made by the Chinese authorities. The same cannot be said of other European governments." (27/11/2007)

die tageszeitung - Germany

China correspondent Georg Blume believes it is a "cardinal error in the West's China policy" to demand that the Chinese government revalue the yuan. "This is precisely what French President Nicolas Sarkozy and the President of the European Central Bank, Jean-Claude Trichet, have done in Beijing. They were following the example of many members of the US government in line with the false motto: China's exports are damaging our growth. With this policy they risk slowing down the motor which drives the global economy. Over the past ten years China's cheap exports have made a substantial contribution to deflation and macro-economic stability in the West. ... Only the potential of China's huge domestic market can achieve a balance in trade flows. For this to happen, the West and China must join forces to combat the threat of inflation behind the current dollar crisis instead of squabbling over exchange rates and trade deficits." (28/11/2007)

La Repubblica - Italy

"Europe is off to Beijing, torn between business and human rights", notes the editorialist Federico Rampini. "An armada of European corporate managers are invading Beijing, motivated by bellicose intentions. Objective number one: to stem the commercial deficits with China that are growing at a rate of 17million euros per hour, exacerbating the impatience of European companies. ... This imbalance is accentuated by the under-evaluation of Chinese currency. It is in order to discuss this subject that various people landed in Beijing a few hours apart: Nicolas Sarkozy, an unprecedented European troika (Jean-Claude Trichet, Jean-Claude Juncker and Joaquin Almunia) and the European Commissioner for External Trade, Peter Mendelson. Only Nicolas Sarkozy's visit had any political contents. However, upon meeting the Chinese Head of State, the French president made a declaration on human rights, that can hardly be called explosive." (28/11/2007)

» To the complete press review of Wednesday, November 28, 2007

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