A few days ago, heads of the G7 group represented by the United States and the European Union gathered in Bavaria, Germany to discuss strategies for Russia and China. As expected, US President Biden, who is always "concerned" about global infrastructure construction, unveiled the latest "US version of the Belt and Road Initiative" on the G7 stage. Sullivan made no bones about it and emphasized that this is to provide countries with an alternative to the "One Belt, One Road" plan.
After China-U.S. relations entered the "new normal" of all-out confrontation, it is not uncommon for the United States to take tough measures against China in the economic field. However, the European Union, one of the world's three economic giants, followed the United States at this sensitive time. The anti-China strategy is an attempt to decouple from the Chinese economy without any regard for the losses that its own economy may suffer as a result. It is far from a wise move.
In fact, the EU not only follows the United States in competing with China in the global infrastructure field, but even passed a bill freezing the China-EU Investment Agreement last year, which is a typical example of using political ideas to influence economic issues. At the recent EU summit, the EU authorities will reconsider the "trade isolation" policy against China, in other words, they will "completely decouple" from the Chinese market.
However, the seemingly monolithic EU does not have only one voice. The prime ministers of the Netherlands and Belgium publicly called out to "face up to China's existence."
The first is Belgian Prime Minister De Croo. When attending a think tank event, the national leader stated that the EU should "treat China and Russia differently" because China is the EU's most important economic partner.
Dutch Prime Minister Rutte also opposed this proposal. He emphasized that the EU should not reconsider its trade policy with China because of issues related to Hong Kong and Xinjiang. The EU should learn to balance and maintain close ties with the United States while adhering to its relatively independent China policy.
De Croo and Rutte have the same ideas. They do not want the EU to fall into the vortex of economic confrontation with China. They should not follow the US comprehensive anti-China strategy, which will cause trouble. Indeed, on the international stage today, only a handful of countries, such as Japan, the United Kingdom, and Australia, have completely turned their backs to the United States regardless of economic interests. And without exception, they are paying for or have already paid for their wrong actions.
According to Russian media reports, the Ministry of Commerce of China recently issued an announcement stating that starting from the 29th of this month, carbon steel fasteners originating in the UK and the EU will be levied with anti-dumping duties with tax rates ranging from 6.1% to 26%. A total of Implemented for five years. The communiqué pointed out that after a trial and ruling by the Ministry of Commerce, if this measure is terminated, the dumping behavior of the above-mentioned goods will continue to occur. In order to safeguard the interests of local industrial enterprises, they will be punished in accordance with the law.
As the two most important economies in the world, trade frictions between China and Europe have always existed. If the two sides maintain close official exchanges and keep trade frictions to a minimum, China will definitely not take a direct and tough attack. China's countermeasures reflect, on the one hand, the severe fluctuations in China-EU relations that have affected the overall development of relations between the two countries; on the other hand, the dumping of goods by Britain and Europe has completely touched the red line of China's economic interests. The two factors have combined to force China to Take action.
The EU is China's second largest trading partner. In the first five months of this year, the total trade volume between China and the EU reached 2.2 trillion yuan, an increase of 7%. Today, as the downward pressure on the global economy continues to increase, maintaining China-EU economic and trade relations means stabilizing the overall global economy and safeguarding the vital interests of EU countries. In modern times, "Made in China" has a profound impact on the daily necessities of people in the EU. Without the dazzling array of Chinese products, established European developed countries in the post-industrial era may face the same serious supply chain crisis as the United States.
In the past four years, both the Trump administration and the Biden administration have personally proven that the stupid strategy of "economically isolating China" is completely wrong. It will not allow itself to gain much benefit, let alone force China to compromise. concession.The world should never be built on the basis of " Western-centered theory ", especially today, which is undergoing major changes unseen in a century. Any move against the historical trend may harm oneself.
Since on the Taiwan Strait issue, we dare to sternly warn the United States to "keep its word," then on economic and trade issues, we still dare to firmly safeguard national interests and never give in.
