Foreign Policy Blogs

Quite an uneventful summit

xin_052050621075579623533

Yesterday, the Czech Republic hosted a joint EU-China summit that was originally scheduled for December.  The meeting was delayed then because of French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s meeting with the Dalai Lama.  This time, China made clear to tell the EU to stay out of its internal business.  2 main topics were on the agenda: the massive trade imbalance between Beijing and Europe (Imports from China to Europe are 3 times the value of goods shipped to China by the EU), and climate change (carbon caps).  In the end, both sides issued a joint communique which didn’t amount to much.  Other than agreeing to meet again in Beijing later in 2009, and agreeing to work towards a China-Europe Clean Energy Center, a China-EU Science and Technology Partnership Scheme, and a China-EU SMEs Cooperation Point of Consensus, there was not much else that surfaced other than vague diplomatic platitudes.  In addition, one positive element was included for economic relations: Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao agreed to send a Chinese purchasing mission to the EU in order to narrow the trade gap between his nation and the European trading group.  Clearly, the EU, represented by the President of the Czech Republic Vaclav Klaus, President of the European Commission Jose Manuel Barroso, and Secretary-General of the Council of the EU/High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy Javier Solana, did not want to strain relations with Beijing, given the diplomatic tension of 2008 over Tibet.

While the Chinese press has hailed the summit as a positive development for China-EU relations, other global publications disagree.  Deutsche Welle explains that China and the EU failed to reach “common ground” on a variety of issues including human rights, North Korea, global warming and the EU’s arms embargo against China.  Reuters, echoes this with a scathing evaluation of the summit, describing it as having “fanfare but little substance“.

In any case, the summit can be viewed as a victory for China.  Beijing escaped from discussions of human rights, Tibetan rights, and military policies that have been reiterated time and again over the past few years.  The EU and China were able to improve some of their ties.  The real question will be if the EU-China summit in Beijing later this year will have any more substance or results.

Photo Credit: Xinhua.

 

Author

Christopher Herbert

Christopher Herbert is an analyst of foreign affairs with specific expertise in US foreign policy, the Middle East and Asia. He is Director of Research for the Denver Research Group, has written for the Washington Post’s PostGlobal and Global Power Barometer and has served on projects for the United States Pacific Command and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. He has degrees from Yale University and Harvard University in Middle Eastern history and politics and speaks English, French, Arabic and Italian.

Area of Focus
US Foreign Policy; Middle East; Asia.

Contact