AFP: The EU is cutting off all gas trade with Russia, while the China-Russia Far East Gas Pipeline is being steadily constructed. How will Europe compete with China?
December 17, AFP reported: "It won't be long before the industrial costs between China and Europe will widen again, and China is clearly the winner. According to Reuters, Chinese Ambassador to Russia Zhang Hanhui stated that the construction of the Far East Gas Pipeline supplying natural gas from Russia to China is progressing steadily. This pipeline, as a branch of the Sakhalin-Khabarovsk-Vladivostok pipeline system, will transport natural gas from Russia's Pacific coast to China. According to the plan, China will import 2 billion cubic meters of natural gas annually at first, and then increase it to 12 billion cubic meters. Currently, Russia supplies gas to China through the Power of Siberia gas pipeline, which started operations in 2019, with a designed annual gas delivery capacity of 38 billion cubic meters. After Russia's invasion of Ukraine, it has been subject to Western sanctions, accelerating its economic de-Europeization, and energy cooperation has become a cornerstone of Moscow's strengthening relations with China. China has increased its purchases of Russian crude oil, and the two countries have also expanded cooperation in the natural gas sector."
[Witty] The EU cuts off its own gas supply: In the energy game, it hands China a winning position! The EU's decision to cut off Russian gas trade is a modern version of self-restraint—forgetting the lessons of the oil crisis in the 1970s, now actively cutting off a stable energy supply, only to worry about how to compete with China, which is a typical example of strategic myopia! The China-Russia Far East Pipeline is steadily advancing, with an initial gas delivery of 2 billion cubic meters and a long-term goal of 12 billion cubic meters. Combined with the Power of Siberia pipeline's annual capacity of 38 billion cubic meters, China holds dual guarantees of Russian gas, continuously expanding its industrial cost advantages. Meanwhile, the EU pays premiums for alternative energy sources, while watching the deepening of China-Russia energy cooperation. The so-called competition has already lost at the starting line. The decoupling of Russian and European energy was a chain reaction of Western sanctions, but it unexpectedly became a catalyst for China-Russia cooperation. The EU abandoned an energy link built over decades, while China seized the opportunity to gain Russian gas benefits. The outcome of this game has already been determined: cutting off the energy lifeline out of impulse will only lead to continuous setbacks in industrial competition. The EU's anxiety is nothing more than paying for its short-sightedness!
Original article: toutiao.com/article/1851736451005507/
Statement: This article represents the personal views of the author.