European leaders will meet their Japanese and Chinese counterparts this week, with high expectations for better defense and trade cooperation with Tokyo contrasting sharply with limited hopes for discussions in Beijing.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa will travel to Asia this week, first meeting Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Wednesday in Tokyo, then Chinese President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Qiang on Thursday in Beijing.
In Japan, the leaders plan to sign agreements on defense industry cooperation and economic security, according to European officials who briefed journalists ahead of the meeting. However, there is no expectation of a joint statement from the summit meeting in Beijing, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The European delegation expects to reach no substantial deals from the Chinese meeting, aiming only for a “substantive, open, direct, good and constructive conversation,” one of the officials said. Europe hopes to make clear what it wants Beijing to do to fix unsustainable economic relations and rebalance ties, the official said.
“The atmosphere of China-Europe relations has become delicate before the summit,” said Cui Hongjian, a former Chinese diplomat who teaches at Beijing Foreign Studies University. “Some favorable conditions, such as Trump’s tariffs, could bring both sides closer, but other unfavorable conditions, like their differences on the Ukraine issue, are preventing better China-Europe relations.”
An agreement on climate change cooperation might emerge, though even that remains uncertain, one official said.
Ties between the EU and China have deteriorated since the pandemic, with European complaints spanning Beijing’s trade practices and its support for Moscow.
For Brussels, cooperation between Chinese and Russian firms that supports Moscow’s military industrial complex despite European sanctions is a particular point of contention. The EU on Friday sanctioned two Chinese banks and five China-based companies as part of its latest measures against Russia over the Ukraine invasion. The move marked the first European sanctions against Chinese banks and prompted protest from Beijing, which promised a response that would safeguard and protect its own firms.
Highlighting European trade frustrations, China’s goods trade surplus in the first half of this year rose to a record for any six-month period, according to data released last week. Fast-growing Chinese exports and shrinking imports pushed the surplus to almost $143 billion through June, the highest on record, even though the first half of the year is typically slower before shipments pick up ahead of the holidays.
Tensions were worsened by Beijing’s April decision to impose export controls on rare earth magnets and related products, which shook European car companies and other sectors.
While these shipments saw a rebound last month, it remains unclear if this will satisfy Europeans, who had demanded China fix the issue before the summit. Von der Leyen had previously accused China of “weaponizing” the magnet supply chains at the Group of Seven meeting last month.
In contrast, the visit to Japan will announce initiatives to build upon what the European officials described as “our closest strategic partner in the Indo-Pacific region.” They said the steps will cover defense and security, industrial policy, foreign interference and manipulation, business competitiveness, as well as cooperation between the EU and countries in the CPTPP, a free trade agreement among 12 nations in the Asia-Pacific region and the UK.
The EU and Japan also held their first “security and defense dialogue” last month. One official noted that the EU and Japan would express their joint opposition to any attempt to change the status quo in the Taiwan Strait by force or coercion, a remark aimed at China, which claims Taiwan as its own territory.
With assistance from Martin Ritchie.
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.