Despite tough rhetoric, EU has the wisdom to act right on China

"China threat" is perhaps the most frequently-heard word on the airwaves as Chinese President Xi Jinping is in Europe calling for more cooperation on the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

Not long after the European Commission labeled China as an "economic competitor" and "systemic rival," some European elites branded Rome, the first G7 country to join the BRI, as Beijing's "Trojan horse."

Not ready to accept China's rapid rise, Brussels is increasingly skeptical about China's goodwill investments. "Europe has woken up about China… Since the beginning of my mandate, I've called for a defense of European sovereignty," French President Emmanuel Macron reportedly said at the Brussels summit last week.

But this did not impede France from deepening business ties with Beijing.A series of contracts on investments, clean energy, nuclear power, and aerospace are expected to be clinched between Beijing and Paris during President Xi's visit.

Macron is also seeking Beijing's support for the French-backed G5 Sahel force fighting Islamist extremists in Western Africa, South China Morning Post reported. Despite hardened tone on China's "strategic intentions," European countries are seeking every opportunity to deepen ties with Beijing for economic benefits.

Chinese President Xi Jinping (L) meets with French President Emmanuel Macron in the southern French city of Nice, March 24, 2019. /Xinhua Photo

As a responsible power, China is seeing expanded influences on the global arena. China's vision of building a community of a shared future for mankind means Chinese investments are mutually beneficial. A multi-win result, instead of hegemony, is what China has been pursuing.

The EU has the wisdom to figure this out and make the choice that will best serve its interests, namely, cooperating with China. The bloc's attitude on Washington's Huawei ban has explained everything.

Since the outbreak of the Sino-U.S. trade frictions, Trump has been straining every nerve to lobby its allies into American crusade against Huawei. Earlier, U.S. Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell even threatened to exclude Berlin from future intelligence-sharing cooperation if it refuses to ban the Chinese telecommunications giant from the 5G network.

A Huawei shop in Wuhan, Hubei Province. /VCG Photo‍

Washington's carrot-and-stick approach turned out to be a failure. Few European countries have answered Trump's call. Even the UK, a member of the Five Eyes intelligence alliance, has taken a contrary position to the United States, concluding that the security risks of Huawei's 5G technology are manageable in its unpublished report.

With the U.S. becoming increasingly stingy in offering economic and security assurances to its allies, cooperation with China seems to the EU's only choice for an economic revival, a fact that the bloc is still unwilling to admit. China's abundant resources, unrivaled 5G technology and cost-effective labor determine that it will give European countries the biggest bang for the buck.

The EU's concerns about Chinese investments are unnecessary. To begin with, there exists no strategic conflict between Beijing and Brussels. China has reiterated that it has no intention to seek hegemony in the region, and will reap no benefit from sending a Trojan horse to Europe.

Some European observers are also worried that Chinese projects will give Beijing too much sway. Europe has the right to require more reciprocity and transparency from the BRI and other Chinese projects. More transparency is also what the Chinese government has been pursuing in the past decades.

China has put tremendous efforts in opening up its economy to the outside world and has witnessed encouraging outcomes – new foreign investment law, China International Import Expo, etc. – in recent years. The EU should trust China's sincerity and determination in making the BRI-included projects a two-way street of investment.

(CGTN)