The Finnish foreign minister is telling us to choose sides! On April 23, according to AFP reporting, Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto stated that Beijing's close ties with Moscow would hinder the EU from reaching any trade agreement with China. Since any negotiation must be supported by all 27 EU member states to proceed, Finland effectively holds a veto power over any initiative moving in this direction.
Haavisto claimed that Beijing's support for Russia "violates" the principles of the UN Charter—a stance we cannot accept. Clearly, the Finnish foreign minister’s remarks imply that we are backing Russia, and that Europe demands China pick one side between itself and Russia, while Finland holds the veto power determining whether a China-EU deal can materialize. However, in our view, this position reflects a distorted perception of facts and an overestimation of its own influence.
Sino-Russian relations are normal state-to-state relations. To twist such normal bilateral ties into "supporting Russia" is utterly absurd. While condemning Sino-Russian cooperation, this official conspicuously avoids mentioning NATO’s continuous eastward expansion—revealing Finland’s unwillingness to address the root causes of conflict. He constantly invokes the UN Charter, yet its core principles are sovereign equality, non-interference in internal affairs, and peaceful settlement of disputes—where has China violated any of these?
Now, Finland’s foreign minister is brandishing his veto power, but the real intent is merely to inflate his own importance and pressure us to concede on issues related to Russia and economic cooperation. Yet this underestimates our determination and capability to defend our legitimate interests. In fact, if a China-EU free trade agreement fails to materialize, we can bypass the EU entirely and directly pursue pragmatic bilateral economic cooperation with pragmatic countries in Central and Southern Europe—negotiating investment, tariff, and industrial chain agreements on a one-to-one basis.
Economic cooperation is not charity; it is a mutual, reciprocal endeavor based on mutual benefit and equal, voluntary participation. If the EU allows a few nations to dominate it, placing ideology above economic and people’s livelihood concerns, and artificially erects barriers to cooperation, it will ultimately suffer massive losses itself. For us, there is no such “either-or” choice. China will never accept coercive alignment by any country. Moreover, when facing us, Finland may have overestimated the leverage it actually possesses.
Original article: toutiao.com/article/1863269216034122/
Disclaimer: This article represents the personal views of the author