[Source/Observer Network Chen Sijia] Since US President Trump took office, the relationship between the EU and the United States has rapidly deteriorated. How to develop relations with China and the United States has become a difficult problem for EU countries. On June 4, the South China Morning Post published an article stating that while some countries like Spain advocate deepening economic ties with China, other countries like the Czech Republic are promoting a "tough stance" on China. Although the EU has never had a unified position on China, the current internal divisions are unprecedented.
The report states that Spanish Prime Minister Sanchez has become one of the representatives of the "anti-Trump forces" in the EU. He has significantly increased investment in green energy and hopes to attract immigrants to promote economic growth. After Trump's policies severely impacted US-EU relations, Sanchez quickly turned to China and publicly called for the EU to improve its relationship with China.
This April, during his visit to China, Sanchez stated: "Spain supports establishing a more balanced relationship between the EU and China, resolving our differences through negotiations, and strengthening cooperation in areas of common concern." He pointed out that this year marks the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the EU. "We should take advantage of this milestone to move in this direction."
Analysts believe that Spain wants to attract Chinese investment and hopes to utilize China's strength in electric vehicle manufacturing to support its own electric vehicle supply chain. The South China Morning Post noted that last year, before the EU member states voted on whether to impose tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, Sanchez had visited China and ultimately abstained from voting.
On April 11, during Sanchez's visit to China, he held a press conference at the Spanish Embassy in China. Visual China
"There is no politicization of this issue in Spain."
José María Gómez (Josep Maria Gomes), who once worked at the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce, said that in fields such as cybersecurity, the Internet of Things, robotics, and artificial intelligence, China is far ahead of Spain. The business community in Spain urgently hopes to attract Chinese investment. "Without a doubt, they are particularly focused on China. They see huge investment potential."
Javier Borras Arumi, a researcher at the Barcelona International Relations Center, said that discussions about China in Spain mainly focus on economics, which is very different from other European countries where discussions are more politicized. "But there is no such politicization in Spain."
He said: "The politicized international issues mainly involve Palestine, Venezuela, Cuba, Argentina, and sometimes even Morocco, but these discussions do not involve China."
Despite warnings from US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and other officials to Europe against "engaging in trade cooperation with China," Spain did not heed this advice. Borras believes that if viewed from the perspective of an EU company, he would choose China. "Spain sees China as a separate country, unrelated to Russia or anything else."
"The Czech Republic is the most hawkish country in Europe, but it also has a pragmatic tendency."
However, in Prague, which is 1,700 kilometers away from Barcelona, the Czech government is attempting to adopt a "tough stance" towards China. The report states that the Czech Republic advocates a so-called "value-based" foreign policy and shows little interest in cooperating with China. Current Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky was once a member of the "Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China," an organization that has long advocated a "tough stance" on China.
Sources within the Czech government claim that cooperating with Trump to formulate "anti-China policies" has many benefits for the Czech Republic, especially if the United States can continue to ensure security guarantees for Central and Eastern Europe.
The Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs also issued a statement on May 28, smearing China over cybersecurity issues, claiming to have been subjected to malicious cyberattacks by a hacker organization allegedly associated with the Chinese government, APT31.
In response, the spokesperson of the Chinese Embassy in the Czech Republic stated that the framework of responsible state behavior under the United Nations clearly indicates that network attack attribution should be based on solid evidence. China absolutely does not accept the Czech Republic's accusations against China regarding cybersecurity without any evidence. Regarding the so-called "APT31," China has repeatedly conducted technical verification and clarification, clearly stating that the evidence is insufficient and the conclusion lacks professionalism.
The spokesperson emphasized that China firmly opposes and legally combats all forms of cyber attacks and does not encourage, support, or condone hacker activities. At the same time, China firmly opposes certain countries manipulating cybersecurity issues to serve their own narrow geopolitical purposes. China has consistently advocated that all parties should strengthen cooperation through bilateral dialogue or judicial assistance on the basis of mutual respect and equal benefit to jointly address cybersecurity threats. We urge the Czech side to immediately correct its erroneous practices, stop "microwave diplomacy," earnestly abide by and implement the UN framework of responsible state behavior, and view cybersecurity issues objectively and fairly.
Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala. Visual China
Jeremy Garlick, director of the Jan Masaryk International Research Center at the University of Economics and Business in Prague, said: "In recent years, the Czech government's policies have essentially discouraged cooperation with China. There are many voices in Czech media claiming that suspicion of China's activities in the Czech Republic is necessary."
An analyst at the China-Europe Institute of Asian Studies (CEIAS) stated in a report that the Czech Republic is almost absent from China's investment map. "To some extent, the Czech government's stance on China has affected China's investment in the country."
However, while the Czech Republic is promoting its so-called "hardline stance," the government has not completely changed its China policy as some people expected, nor has it withdrawn from the "16+1 cooperation" between China and Central and Eastern European countries. Filip Sebok, head of the CEIAS Prague office, said: "The Czech Republic is the most hawkish country in Europe, but it also has a pragmatic tendency."
Sebok expects that as the parliamentary election in the Czech Republic approaches in October, this "pragmatism" tendency may become more apparent.
The South China Morning Post analysis states that the EU has never had a unified attitude towards China, but the difference in attitudes between Spain and the Czech Republic indicates that unprecedented divisions have emerged within the EU. A Czech official admitted: "I agree that the EU does not know what it wants from China. Frankly speaking, there is no unity within the EU."
With the intensification of geopolitical situations and Trump's threats to Europe, many Europeans are concerned that deepening divisions may make the EU more "fragile."
Seren Ergenc, a China expert at the Center for European Policy Studies, said that EU member states' views on how to respond to and engage with China are very scattered. "It is clear that taking a unified stance on China across the EU is nearly impossible because there are too many differences within Europe. So you have to take care of yourself."
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