Europe should be wary of the Biden administration leading it further astray: China Daily editorial

Anyone taking an objective look at international relations cannot but raise their eyebrows at the latest plan proposed by the European Union to reduce what the bloc sees is its economic dependence on China while increasing its political dependency on the United States.

The policy adjustment, or "re-calibrating" of China policy as EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell calls it, places greater emphasis on China as an economic competitor. The recalibration received broad backing from the bloc's 27 foreign ministers when they met in Stockholm on Friday. They will now work out what they think it actually entails before presenting it to EU leaders who are expected to discuss China at a summit next month.

Borrell said that the EU had to learn from the "strategic mistake" it made in becoming too dependent on Russian gas. No matter what term the EU picks to describe how it will steer its relationship with China — European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has previously called for "de-risking" — there is no denying the fact that the EU will be ditching the decades-old mutually beneficial partnership that has served both sides' best interests, in favor of an ideologically driven confrontational approach driven by Washington.

Some have portrayed China as an economic threat to Europe's security and called for the bloc to distance itself from the country. But others, such as Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjárto, remain clear-minded, cautioning against turning the EU into an "anti-China" bloc. They call for strategic cooperation instead of systemic competition between the two sides. "We don't agree at all with the way certain European countries want to define China as a kind of systemic rival," Szijjárto said in Stockholm on Friday.

It would be pointless for Western European countries to want to sever the economic links between China and Europe, given the "clear division of labor between East and West". "Neither works without the other," he said. As if to prove his point, French President Emmanuel Macron announced on Friday that Chinese group XTC New Energy Materials will set up a joint venture with France's Orano in the battery sector in the northern French port city of Dunkirk for an expected investment of 1.5 billion euros ($1.63 billion). The venture is expected to create around 1,700 jobs.

China has, and will always see Europe as a comprehensive strategic partner and support it to play a more active role in the international arena.

Europe has undoubtedly been rattled by the conflict in Ukraine. But it should recognize its own role in what has transpired. By allowing the US to use it as the rack on which to stretch Russia to breaking point, Europe has inflicted harm and troubles on itself.

It would be detrimental to the interests of both the EU and China, if the EU were to let its cooperative relations with China also be hijacked by Washington.