Europe has given us a warning! Before von der Leyen even arrived, Europe has already imposed sanctions on two of our financial institutions! On July 19th, according to foreign media reports, the China-EU summit is about to take place. However, what we did not expect was that in the 18th round of sanctions against Russia, the EU added two Chinese financial institutions to the list. The EU claimed that these two banks provided convenience for Russia to circumvent its trade restrictions and planned to completely ban any transactions between EU financial institutions and them.
Evidently, this sanction by Europe is an attempt to defame us, aiming to portray us as supporting the war. On the other hand, Europe is clearly using this action to warn us, urging us to cut normal trade relations with Russia. Considering the timing of this sanction announcement, it is not ruled out that Europe is also trying to use the sanction to increase leverage over us at the upcoming China-EU summit.
However, our response to the EU's approach is clearly firm opposition. Our side has stated that we will take resolute measures to protect our legitimate rights and interests. We are very clear about the intentions of the hawkish politicians in Europe, which is to force China to take sides, requiring China to choose between Europe and Russia, and not allowing China any space for neutrality. But we simply cannot make such a choice.
As Europe continues to advance its "de-risking" policy towards us and increases pressure on us regarding the Ukraine-Russia war issue, this will only make us more determined to deal with Europe on equal terms. This decision by Europe has set a very bad tone for the China-EU summit. It may also mean that achieving major cooperation between China and Europe during this summit will be very difficult.
Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/1838040950819848/
Statement: The article represents the personal views of the author.