Using a mix of warnings and blandishments, China is attempting to force the European Union to toe Beijing’s ideological line and undermine the bloc’s relations with the United States. This appears to be a major thrust in China’s global strategy–if it can encourage a break in U.S.-European relations, there is no force on earth that will be able to challenge China’s rapid global expansion. I am indebted to Bill Bishop’s excellent Sinocism newsletter for collecting these strands. Imagine the audacity of saying that awarding a Nobel Peace Prize to Hong Kong pro-democracy activists would represent interference in China’s internal affairs!
From the South China Morning Post: China has appealed to Europe to jointly confront “extremist forces” in the United States pushing for decoupling, as Washington tries to build a transatlantic alliance against Beijing. In a rebuke to President Donald Trump’s “America first” slogan, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told an audience in Paris on Sunday that “we never talk about ‘China first’”.
“At present, China-US relations are in the gravest situation since diplomatic relations began … [with the US] publicly coercing other countries to take sides and attempting to push Sino-US relations into conflicts and confrontations,” Wang said in a speech at the French Institute of International Relations.
When asked how China would react if the Nobel prize would go to Hong Kong protesters, Wang said “I would only say one thing: In the past, today, and in the future, China will firmly reject any attempt by anyone to use the Nobel Peace Prize to interfere in China’s internal affairs.”
From the Associated Press. Speaking in Paris on Sunday, Wang repeated the claim that all those sent to reeducation centers in Xinjiang have been released and placed in employment — even as rights groups and families report on continuing detentions of Uighur Muslims and the loss of contact with loved ones…
Asked about Hong Kong’s security law, Wang said, “We certainly couldn’t sit idly by and let the chaos go on, so we enacted a law maintaining national security that specifically suited Hong Kong’s situation.”
From Chinese media: Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Qin Gang has summoned Czech Ambassador to China Vladimir Tomsik to lodge stern representations against Czech Senate Speaker Milos Vystrcil’s visit to Taiwan. In the Czech Republic, China’s ambassador to Czech Republic lodged a representation to the Czech foreign ministry saying Vystrcil visited Taiwan “for his selfish gain” and that it is severe interference in China’s domestic affairs. China “will make necessary response to protect its legitimate interests.” This is a full-court press against a small nation (outside the EU.) What is a “necessary response?”
From Reuters. By way of temptation to the EU, Wang is holding out hopes of a Chinese-European investment agreement that would encourage more Chinese investment in Europe. “I am thinking of the investment agreement. We have the possibility of concluding it before the end of the year. It is important more than ever to take a step.”
To top it all off, President Xi Jinping is scheduled to meet with EU leaders at a summit in two weeks. It’s like a global game of chess. And China is playing it better than we are at the moment.
