Before the Chinese special plane took off to visit Russia, a congratulatory message was exchanged between the leaders of China and the European Council President Costa and the European Commission President von der Leyen on the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Europe.

This is more of a coincidence of time, as Russia's "Victory Day" commemoration is only three days apart from the anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Europe.

However, Western countries can't help but speculate, trying to interpret China's normal diplomatic arrangements from the perspective of trilateral relations among China, Russia, and Europe. This effort will inevitably be futile.

[On the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Europe, the leaders exchanged congratulatory messages.]

At the same time, the Chinese Foreign Ministry expressed its welcome for Costa and von der Leyen to visit China and hold a new round of China-Europe consultations.

When it comes to China-Europe consultations, one must mention that in previous years, the rotating host convention has always been followed. When China hosted, the next session would be held in the EU. For example, the last China-Europe Summit was held in Beijing in 2023, hosted by China. Therefore, this time, it should be the EU's turn to host.

The EU initially planned in this direction and made corresponding arrangements, such as inviting China to visit Europe and upgrading the summit format to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations.

[In 2023, former European Council President Michel visited China]

However, under China's insistence, the EU chose to accept reality and abandoned the idea of hosting.

Therefore, just like the year before last, the China-Europe Summit will continue to be held in Beijing.

The breaking of this convention reflects China's intention to take the initiative in managing Sino-European relations and actively guide the strategic direction of Sino-European interactions.

We have mentioned before that for the China-Europe Summit to yield results this year, the host should still be China.

The preliminary date for the summit is set for July, coinciding with the expiration of the 90-day deferral period of reciprocal tariffs imposed by the Trump administration.

This indicates that China already has a clear and specific plan for the highest-level interactions with Russia and Europe.

[In the past month, high-level communication between China and Europe has intensified]

After the state visit to Russia, we began to prepare the detailed schedule for the China-Europe Summit, waiting for von der Leyen and Costa to come and discuss matters.

Given the significance of this year's China-Europe Summit, the delegations led by these two figures will not be small in either composition or scale.

Although the exchange of congratulatory messages between China and Europe on the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations may have more symbolic meaning, when combined with the current international trends, it is not difficult to see that if the EU wants to seize the strategic opportunity for improving Sino-European relations and create leverage for US-EU economic and trade negotiations, this symbolic meaning is equally important.

Moreover, it is also to create a positive atmosphere for bilateral diplomacy and lay the groundwork for subsequent high-level interactions.

By the way, China and the European Parliament have decided to synchronously lift restrictions on mutual exchanges, and the bilateral legislative bodies will gradually resume interactions. This is also part of the positive signals released by China and Europe to promote the improvement of their relationship.

[The EU is pondering how to deal with Trump's reciprocal tariffs]

In addition, this involves the Comprehensive Investment Agreement between China and the EU, which has been indefinitely frozen. Four years ago, the European Parliament decided to indefinitely freeze the Comprehensive Investment Agreement between China and the EU. Now that both sides have lifted restrictions, discussions seem to be able to be raised again.

If significant progress is made in investment agreements under the backdrop of a tariff war, it will send a profound signal to the United States Trump administration and even the whole world.

At the same time, this also shows that under severe external pressure, the European Parliament has no choice but to put aside ideological posturing or overt interference in China's internal affairs.

Of course, for Sino-European economic and trade cooperation, the most pressing issue at present is not whether the Comprehensive Investment Agreement is reached, but whether both sides can reach deeper consensus on opposing trade protectionism and maintaining the international economic and trade order.

This is not just about responding to the US reciprocal tariffs; wasn't the EU's "de-risking" and the tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles a form of protectionism?

A few days ago, the central banks and finance ministers of ASEAN and the three countries of China, Japan, and South Korea held a meeting in Italy and issued a joint statement after the meeting, clearly mentioning the need to strengthen cooperation and strive to maintain the multilateral trading system.

[ASEAN ten countries and China, Japan, and South Korea issued a joint statement, opposing trade protectionism]

It is not hard to see that in the face of indiscriminate US tariffs, the ten ASEAN countries and Japan and South Korea have made their choices. Now it is the EU's turn to make up its mind.

In the congratulatory message sent by China to Costa and von der Leyen, it was also mentioned that China and Europe should adhere to multilateralism and oppose unilateral bullying. It is expected that this will be one of the key topics at this year's China-Europe Summit.

We know that the environment facing the EU is unprecedentedly complex. On major issues such as geopolitics, security, and economy, serious differences have emerged with the traditional ally, the United States. Although the EU has prepared for possible changes in transatlantic relations after Trump's presidency, it still seems somewhat unprepared.

Facing the pressure of US reciprocal tariffs, the EU needs to find a way out, and the first thing that comes to mind is strengthening Sino-European cooperation.

The problem lies in the fact that the EU leadership's attitude toward Sino-European relations appears very utilitarian. In the past, they hyped up so-called "de-risking," encouraged the US and EU to cooperate in supply chains, reduce "dependence on China," and also cooperated with the US in pressuring China on the Ukraine issue.

If it were not for the significant adjustment in the US government's domestic and foreign policies after the change of administration, leading to uncertainty in transatlantic relations, the EU would not be in its current position.

If the EU wants to restore normal interaction with China, it must change its previous utilitarian mindset, re-examine its China policy from a strategic perspective, summarize experiences and lessons, and learn from them instead of saying one thing and doing another.

Original source: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7501279783536312844/

Disclaimer: The article represents the author's personal views. Please express your opinions by clicking the 'Like' or 'Dislike' button below.