As the Chinese regime continues to treat the world like it treats its own citizens, the European Union is stepping up to confront Beijing. If not a new role, it is certainly a new level of engagement for the EU against the regime’s appalling oppression of its people.
Beijing’s Troubles Multiply
But Beijing is finding it harder to replace the U.S. role in the world than it may have imagined. The reality is that China’s multiplying internal problems are clear indications that its own prestige and power are also declining. The pandemic helped that process along, but it certainly hasn’t been the only factor.China Takes the Gloves Off With Australia
Evidently, the CCP knows this as well. That realization goes a long way in explaining their unvarnished nuclear targeting threats against Australia. Beijing is aware that it must play to the country’s strengths, which is its military power, because that’s the only reliable power that remains undiminished. That’s not surprising, since brute power is truly the only language that China’s leadership understands or respects.EU Takes Gloves Off With China
That is why it is gratifying to see that the EU is making Beijing pay a much bigger price for its inhumane behavior than it has in the past. Recall that in March of this year, for example, after almost a decade of negotiations, the EU-China Comprehensive Agreement on Investment (CAI) was put on hold.The pause in those negotiations is turning out to be a very significant blow to China, because it viewed the CAI as a strategic action to divide the Europeans from the United States in a variety of economic and even military contexts. The EU has let Beijing know that that’s not going to happen. In fact, when it comes to common interest between Brussels and Beijing, EU leadership understands that there is actually less there than meets the eye.
CCP Is Out of Touch With the Rest of the World
China’s chauvinistic vision for the world, however, is quite different. Brussels and every European nation trading with China now realize that Beijing’s endgame, per its “Made In China 2025” mission, is to hollow out the technology sectors of the West and Asia, making the client states dependent upon China for technological production and innovation.As one would expect, Beijing’s vision caused significant blowback from the rest of the world. But more revealing is the hubris of the CCP for imagining that it could openly state such a goal and not expect any consequences. If nothing else, it’s a staggering demonstration of just how out of touch the Party leadership is with the rest of the world.
Fortunately, the EU is now doing what needs to be done and what the United States should be doing more of as well. Hopefully, the EU’s pushback against the Chinese leadership will continue.