Thicker Sino-EU bonds needed
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China and the European Union (EU), as two global powers, should be more diligent to move bilateral ties on a number of issues forward, especially in the post-Lisbon Treaty era.
The treaty was signed by EU member states on Dec 13, 2007, partly because grievances had emerged among European nations over the bloc's inability to mold its dominant economic weight into the status as a world-leading power that commands political influence on a global scale. With the Lisbon Treaty taking effect late last year, a more cohesive EU is expected to play a bigger role in world affairs. Some have blamed the bloc's inability to boost its international status on its failure to forge a unified foreign policy as well as its overly soft diplomatic stance.
China, as an emerging player in Asian and world affairs that has expanded its relationship with the EU, should be well adapted to the EU's formation of a new power framework. Undoubtedly, the new composition of the EU "troika" will play a very important role in establishing the bloc's policies toward China and implementing its course of action.
Currently, the so-called troika consists of Herman Van Rompuy, the newly elected president of the EU; Jose Manuel Barroso, European Commission president; and Catherine Ashton, the new chief of EU foreign affairs.
Despite the disappointment among some European political elites and the public after the less-reputed Van Rompuy, the former Belgian prime minister, and Ashton, the former EU trade commissioner who has been criticized for her lack of deep diplomatic experience, assumed their EU posts, the empowered troika has essentially taken the lead in EU foreign affairs. The trio's success lies with whether they can effectively coordinate the multitude of viewpoints among its 27 member states.
Compared with Barroso and Van Rompuy, Ashton's role should be garnering more of the spotlight given that she not only chairs the monthly meetings of EU foreign ministers, but also wields considerable sway in deciding EU foreign aids distribution as the vice-president of the European Commission. According to the Lisbon Treaty, the European External Action service, which is now being prepared, will also be under her charge.
China and the EU should reflect on frequent instances that have made bilateral ties tense over the past few years. Compared with the Chinese people's understanding of Europe, Europeans lack a thorough grasp of China's national conditions. As a result, misunderstandings have time and again emerged in dealings with each other.
Europeans are still cloaked in ideological perspectives of the Asian nation although two decades have passed since the end of the Cold War. It is common for a lot of biased and partial coverage about Beijing to pop up in European media, which has seriously hampered a smooth development of China-EU ties.
To move relations forward, China and Europe should discard long-existing prejudices of each other and take workable measures to build up bilateral cooperation.
For Europe, China is an inalienable partner on the international stage either in the economic or political front. China and Europe's accusations against each other in the wake of the Copenhagen climate summit highlighted the importance of jointly dealing with international challenges and advocating good global governance. China's overshadowing economic performance amid the global financial crisis makes its role in the world economy more important than ever. At the same time, China also cannot afford to look down upon the EU and its expanded international influence.
Economic interests continue to play the most important bond that tightly ties Sino-EU relations. Bilateral trade volume in 2008 reached $425.6 billion, exceeding China's trade with the United States. Despite the global financial crisis, EU's trade volume with China in the first 10 months of last year still approached $300 billion, maintaining its top trading partner status with the country.
As China's second largest trading partner and the fastest-growing exporting market, EU has benefited greatly from deepened economic links with China. The establishment of a high-level economic and trade dialogue between China and EU in 2007 has to some extent helped ease tensions in bilateral trade ties. The two sides should therefore focus on this path of their relationship. In view of the vital role played by the European Commission in the bloc's decision-making process on foreign trade, China should see the commission as an important partner for dialogue.
China and EU should also advocate cooperation in dealing with the environment, climate change and policies toward Africa. As a developing nation, China is unlikely to stop modernizing. But the country has also recognized that the environment is important for sustained development and has taken a series of measures to strike a balance between the two. Given its crucial role in pushing global climate talks forward, Europe should try to be constructive in the process and cease lashing out at China over the issue of global warming.
There is broad potential for China and the EU to cooperate on clean energy as well as new energy - considerable efforts should be made to tap the potential of what each can do to strengthen clean and new energy technology. In their policies toward Africa - a region that is vital both to China and Europe - the two sides should take practical and effective measures to fully display their respective advantages in the vast continent.
