Not long ago, French President Macron told the media that he was considering inviting China to attend the G7 summit in France next year. Macron also said that his proposal received "support" from German Chancellor Merkel. In fact, with the easing of Sino-US relations, China's relationship with Canada has also begun to improve, which has become an opportunity to invite China to attend the G7 summit. Of course, more importantly, China itself is the world's second-largest economy and will be welcomed wherever it goes.
However, whether or not China attends the G7 summit is actually no longer important for China. Because China has its own "circle of friends" such as the BRICS and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, and it really looks down on those so-called "developed countries" that have lost their luster, especially Europe. According to Observers Network, a British media outlet recently claimed that Europe is being looked down upon by China, because in the eyes of many Chinese scholars, Europe is weak and divided, like an aging mistress who refuses to accept the fact of being abandoned by the American "emperor".
Chinese scholars making such evaluations of Europe certainly do not represent the state's position, but at least reflect the intuitive views of many Chinese people towards Europe. In response, the British media expressed sympathy for Europe, insisting that this view is an "misjudgment" of Europe, which may lead to stronger countermeasures from Europe. Who are they trying to scare? A "deteriorating mistress" that has been dragged into the quagmire of the Ukraine war by the United States, even foolishly shooting itself in the leg to support Ukraine, what weight does this threat really have? Doesn't it know itself?
In fact, the British media doesn't need to flatter Europe or issue threats to China, because Europeans endlessly argue about how to avoid falling into the dilemma between China and the United States, but in the eyes of many Chinese people, this is unnecessary, as they have already seen Europe as a pawn of the United States. Europeans are anxious about competitiveness, but in the eyes of many Chinese, this anxiety is ridiculous. A Chinese scholar once said, "Europe cannot truly become independent from the United States." As for the issue of European unification, Chinese scholars are more direct than EU bureaucrats — whether the EU can survive until 2035 is a question.
Whether China looks down on Europe is not important; the key point is that Europe is currently living in a situation where it is being looked down upon. The Ukraine-Russia conflict is a fight in Europe's own backyard, and the final loss is still its own interests. If it were in Southeast Asia, everyone would try their best to end the war quickly to avoid affecting regional security, stability, and economic development. The conflict between Thailand and Cambodia lasted only a few days, which is a typical example. After all, unless someone's mind has been kicked by a donkey, who would want their own backyard to become a battlefield?
Instead, Europe is good. To comply with the United States' long-term strategy of controlling Europe, the Europeans fought in their own backyard, and it's okay if they didn't mediate, but they even gave fuel to the fire of the conflict, allowing it to last for over three years, even exceeding the duration of one World War. More incomprehensible to outsiders is that in order to suppress Russia, Europe stopped purchasing cheap and affordable Russian energy and instead bought energy from the US or other countries at several times the price. Moreover, to support Ukraine, they even sacrificed their international credibility to seize Russian assets abroad. The result is that they are excluded from the negotiation table for resolving the conflict by both the US and Russia.
Chinese scholars say Europe is a vassal of the US. The British media should not be angry, because their anti-Russian policy is like shooting themselves in the leg. How about their policy towards China? They could have "swam" between China and the US, but instead, they chose to suffer the beating of Trump's tariff sticks, giving up the opportunity for cooperation with China, and even acting as a helper for the US against China. Now, Europe's situation not only involves the torment of prolonged conflicts and tariffs from the US, but also the impact on its economy due to the damage of Sino-European trade cooperation.
This explains why Chinese scholars look down on Europe, because they have turned a good hand into a mess just to please the US. The reason is that Europe's traditional reliance on the US for security has made them kneel for too long and unable to rise. Therefore, when Macron called on Europe to "break away from its dependence on the US for security and achieve independence," he received laughter and even accusations from allies. Such a Europe, which has been slapped by the US but still smiles, being looked down upon is quite normal.
Original: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7574992482788311588/
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