As China eclipses US, Brussels must rethink Beijing, says top EU diplomat

[beijingwalker]

As China eclipses US, Brussels must rethink Beijing, says top EU diplomat

Josep Borrell said the pandemic could be seen as a turning point in the power shift from West to East, and that the “pressure to choose sides is growing.”

May 25, 2020

Berlin: The European Union’s top diplomat has called for the bloc to have a “more robust strategy” toward China amid signs that Asia is replacing the United States as the centre of global power.

EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell told a gathering of German ambassadors on Monday that “analysts have long talked about the end of an American-led system and the arrival of an Asian century.”

European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell addresses a video press conference at the conclusion of a video conference of EU foreign affairs ministers in Brussels.CREDIT:AP

“This is now happening in front of our eyes,” he said.

Borrell said the pandemic could be seen as a turning point in the power shift from West to East, and that for the EU the “pressure to choose sides is growing.”

He said the 27-nation bloc “should follow our own interests and values and avoid being instrumentalised by one or the other.”

But while China’s rise was “impressive,” Borrell said current relations between the Brussels and Beijing weren’t always based on trust, transparency and reciprocity.

Borrell said “we only have a chance if we deal with China with collective discipline,” noting that an upcoming EU-China summit this northern autumn could be an opportunity to do so.

“We need a more robust strategy for China, which also requires better relations with the rest of democratic Asia,” he added.

Speaking at the same conference, held by videolink this year due to the pandemic, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas echoed Borrell’s call for greater transparency from China, an issue that has come to the fore over Beijing’s information policy during the early stages of the virus outbreak.

Germany takes over the six-month rotating presidency of the EU in July.

https://skugal.org/as-china-eclipses-us-brussels-must-rethink-beijing-says-eu-top-diplomat/

 

[beijingwalker]

Josep Borrell said the pandemic could be seen as a turning point in the power shift from West to East,

I said this for months already, it's very obvious to see, the writing is on the wall everywhere. and never trust so called "allies" , they can switch camps anytime.

 

[Khanivore]

I said this for months already, it's very obvious to see, the writing is on the wall everywhere. and never trust so called "allies" , they can switch camps anytime.

This is why India keeps one leg in the East (SCO) and one in the West. It will be interesting to see which way they will swing when the crunch comes.

Mind you, India played the "neutral partner" card during the Cold War, with Soviets one side and the West on other. Perhaps this is what the EU wants to do in this century with new challenges.

 

[UKBengali]

EU and Europe will always choose US over China due to shared blood.

 

[Hiraa]

I said this for months already, it's very obvious to see, the writing is on the wall everywhere. and never trust so called "allies" , they can switch camps anytime.

Exactly. A lesson for everyone to see. There are no allies. Just economic and strategic partners.

 

[beijingwalker]

EU and Europe will always choose US over China due to shared blood.

How about India and Pakistan? East Asians have shared blood, culture, values and ideology, but we hate each other to the core. Familiarity breeds contempt.

 

[tower9]

I said this for months already, it's very obvious to see, the writing is on the wall everywhere. and never trust so called "allies" , they can switch camps anytime.

"switch camps". What are you talking about? Borrell was saying that the EU needs a comprehensive strategy towards China that engaged more with "Democratic Asia". This means that the strategy will be more robust and have more elements of containment than before. The EU is hardly switching sides.

Trump has been pissing off the EU a lot in the last few years, you better hope he wins again because if a Democrat wins than the EU will be more conciliatory to the US.

How about India and Pakistan? East Asians have shared blood, culture, values and ideology, but we hate each other to the core. Familiarity breeds contempt.

Except the White Western world is united by the ideology of liberal democracy and Western cultural superiority (runs in parallel with White racial supremacy). East Asians have spent centuries living with a dominant West so most East Asians have an inferiority complex to the West which makes a unifying ideology difficult. If China had not slept through the last few centuries and instead expanded/circumnavigated/colonized the world during the Ming Empire when they had the chance with Zheng He's treasure ships, then East Asia today would likely be in the position of the West, united by a common civilization and sense of superiority.

 

[UKBengali]

How about India and Pakistan? East Asians have shared blood, culture, values and ideology, but we hate each other to the core. Familiarity breeds contempt.

Religion in case of India and Pakistan.

Both Europe and USA are Christian.

 

[beijingwalker]

Religion in case of India and Pakistan.

Both Europe and USA are Christian.

I see many Arab countries sharing same religion and blood still hate each other, countries are just like people, go for interests other than blood.

 

[UKBengali]

I see many Arab countries sharing same religion and blood still hate each other, countries are just like people, go for interests other than blood.

With all due respect you do not live in Europe and do not know how white people think like.

One of the reasons they became so successful is they co-operated on the whole rather than fight too much with each other.

No chance Europe will side with China over USA. They may not follow everything that USA tells them to do but they also like the USA do not want China to become more powerful than USA.

 

[beijingwalker]

With all due respect you do not live in Europe and do not know how white people think like.

One of the reasons they became so successful is they co-operated on the whole rather than fight too much with each other.

No chance Europe will side with China over USA. They may not follow everything that USA tells them to do but they also like the USA do not want China to become more powerful than USA.

Both WWI and WWII were Europeans fighting Europeans, besides, Russia is also part of Europe.

 

[UKBengali]

Both WWI and WWII were Europeans fighting Europeans, besides, Russia is also part of Europe.

Yes as everyone else was nowhere, either colonised or no industrial might, and so they could "afford" to fight each other and still stay on top.

 

[Naram_Sin]

Untangeling the web that is the power structure of the west can be difficult for spectators, regardless a nation state should account for all possible scenarios including the worse one, which in this case would be the collective west acting together against China.

China should really work on building influence atleast in its immediate neigborhood and preferably all over asia, both overt and covert, for overt it needs an export ideology, to make a brand of itself.

I see many Arab countries sharing same religion and blood still hate each other, countries are just like people, go for interests other than blood.

Arabs are divided by religious sect, also most lack the sovereignity to take any action in the interest of a collective union, the gulf is essentially a US camp, and the part that wasnt was ruined through war.

 

[tower9]

Both WWI and WWII were Europeans fighting Europeans, besides, Russia is also part of Europe.

Western Europe and the US are blood brothers. They believe they are culturally superior to the rest of the world and when a non-White, non-liberal, authoritarian (heathen) state like China rises, it scares the hell out of the liberal West and they will fight together to contain it, because they are on the same boat.

Don't think that Russia is on that boat. Yes it is White and European but Slavs have always been considered "foreign and the Other" to the White Westerners.

You live in China. You don't understand the West. You don't understand the tribes that exist in Europe and the West. The West is made up of the US as the first core, the Anglo world as the second core, the Germanic world (Germany, Scandinavia, Netherlands, etc) as the third core, the Latin world (France, Spain, Italy) as the fourth core.

Cores 1 to 3 will stick together to the end. They will sink or swim together. Their hatred of China is unanimous. China may have some luck peeling away the fourth core (The Latin world) and can ally with Slavic nations, but forget about peeling away Cores 1 to 3, especially anything in Core 2.

With all due respect you do not live in Europe and do not know how white people think like.

One of the reasons they became so successful is they co-operated on the whole rather than fight too much with each other.

No chance Europe will side with China over USA. They may not follow everything that USA tells them to do but they also like the USA do not want China to become more powerful than USA.

The only way that China can break up the unity of the West is by being so powerful, so rich, so advanced and having a diplomatic/media machine that is so charming and influential, that it cannot be resisted. China is very far away from being that. It will have to be 3X more powerful than the US to achieve that.

 

[UKBengali]

Western Europe and the US are blood brothers. They believe they are culturally superior to the rest of the world and when a non-White, non-liberal, authoritarian (heathen) state like China rises, it scares the hell out of the liberal West and they will fight together to contain it, because they are on the same boat.

Don't think that Russia is on that boat. Yes it is White and European but Slavs have always been considered "foreign and the Other" to the White Westerners.

You live in China. You don't understand the West. You don't understand the tribes that exist in Europe and the West. The West is made up of the US as the first core, the Anglo world as the second core, the Germanic world (Germany, Scandinavia, Netherlands, etc) as the third core, the Latin world (France, Spain, Italy) as the fourth core.

Cores 1 to 3 will stick together to the end. They will sink or swim together. Their hatred of China is unanimous. China may have some luck peeling away the fourth core (The Latin world) and can ally with Slavic nations, but forget about peeling away Cores 1 to 3, especially anything in Core 2.

I actually think that if push comes to shove even Russia will ally with it's white Christian brothers in the West against China.

France, Spain and Italy will use China for benefits but they will stay firmly with the rest of the West. You just have to see the amount of racism against Chinese over Covid-19 that have been displayed in Italy. Rich Northern Europe has just agreed 500 billion Euros in grants to bail out Italy and Spain over Covid-19.

White people have this tribal mentality that I personally have not seen with any other race.