How China divided Europe in two
Last Updated on May 14, 2024 8:48 am
Chinese President Xi Jinping recently visited Europe He started his tour through France and went to Serbia and Hungary
Bartram Lang, a researcher at Frankfurt’s Goethe University and an expert on Chinese foreign policy, said Beijing has a “special bilateral relationship” with the three European countries. He believes that the Chinese leadership has gradually divided Europe into two parts, on one side of which are countries that have friendly relations with China. On the other hand, there are countries that do not have such friendly relations
Lang believes that the Chinese president’s visit this year is focused on strengthening relations with countries that have friendly relations.
The Chinese president started his European tour with a two-day visit to France Although Xi Jinping is interested in a bilateral meeting with France, the country’s President Emmanuel Macron also invited the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, to Paris to show European unity. Macron also invited German Chancellor Olaf Schalz But Shalats did not go However, Schlatz and Macron met together on May 2 before the Chinese president’s visit to France
During the meeting in France, Leyen told Xi Jinping that Europe will not refrain from taking tough decisions to protect the economy
Macron was praised in Chinese state media for speaking out in support of Europe’s “strategic autonomy” ahead of Xi’s visit. After a visit to China in April 2023, Macron warned of European involvement in tensions between the US and China over the crisis over Taiwan. He said, being an ally of the US does not mean being a ‘vehicle’ of Washington
Serbia is getting a lot of credit under China’s Belt and Road Initiative A high-speed rail line between Hungary and Serbia is to be built with the loan money.
EU member Hungary has made no secret of its support for Russia In addition, Hungary has vetoed various proposals made by the EU in opposition to China several times
Plans to build a Chinese car factory in Hungary come amid European concerns about Chinese electric cars flooding the European market. In this situation, Hungary is taking responsibility as the EU presidency country from July 1 Xi Jinping hopes that Hungary will work to improve EU-China relations
Political analyst Farenci says China’s overall strategy is to “undermine the unity of the EU” and develop relations with different EU member states separately.