As China’s power and influence over the world’s economy continue to grow, European leaders are willing to open markets with Beijing while claiming to maintain some degrees of caution and suspicion, as reported in last week’s Wall Street Journal.
The report pointed to a Pew Research Center survey conducted in October showing global distrust of President Xi Jinping at an all-time high. Beijing’s European critics blame the country’s leadership for its slow response and transparency at the onset of the COVID outbreak and see its crackdown in Hong Kong and intimidation campaign in Taiwan as troubling tendencies.
Beijing has blamed Western countries for perpetuating false accusations.
“China has become plank number one for the U.S. in our diplomatic conversations with Europeans,” Wess Mitchell, the former U.S. assistant secretary of state for European Affairs, told the paper. “Our best ally in the effort to make China an issue is China’s own behavior.”
The South China Morning Post reported China’s economic growth could reach 9 percent next year, and its economy could overtake the U.S. to become the world’s largest by 2028. Beijing, however, does have some monetary issues.
“Even though China’s exports remain resilient this year, it could face problems from poor global economic outlook and shrinking international trade. Debt growth and high-interest rates are also risky combinations, adding to China’s overall debt pressure,” the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, a think tank, said in a statement.
Still, China’s economic growth has led to an investment deal with the E.U., which The New York Times called a “significant geopolitical victory for China.” The deal still needs to be ratified by the European Parliament.
Jake Sullivan, President-elect Joe Biden’s choice for national security advisor, warned about the pact in a Twitter post. He said the Biden administration “would welcome early consultations with our European partners on our concerns about China’s economic practices.”
The Financial Times reported the accord, seven years in the making, is an early challenge for the Biden administration that hoped to work with European allies to apply pressure on Beijing when it comes to issues like human rights and its penchant for stealing intellectual property. The FT spoke with a former Obama administration official who called Sullivan’s tweet significant.
“Jake’s tweet was very, very careful in the text but the message was unmistakable,” the former official said. “Jake basically said, ‘Hey, slow things down,’ and that’s not happening.”
Thomas Wright, a senior fellow at the Bookings Institution, told the FT the E.U.’s leadership’s move to agree to the deal is “unquestionably damaging” and “will have many justifiably asking if it’s worth Biden’s time placing a big bet on Europe.”
