The European Union is trying to redirect his relationship with China. A complex idyll that has been clouded again after the cancellation of the trip to Beijing of the High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Joseph Borrell, scheduled for next week. The Chinese government has not clarified the reason for this decision and as reported by the EU Foreign Affairs spokesperson from beijingThey have simply argued that the scheduled dates “were no longer possible.”
The reasons, however, can be guessed. He European Council made public his conclusions on the EU strategy towards China last week. In this report the Twenty seven woke up reduce dependence on Beijing and further discuss how to strike a balance between “risk reduction” and intervention in areas such as climate change.
“We have to reduce the risks and that means being able to step back to a certain point, because geopolitically the seemingly growing China-Russia relationship it is a potential problem for all of us,” declared the Latvian Prime Minister, Krisjanis Karinsupon arrival at the community institution.
Faced with this complex web of interests, Brussels has cataloged the Asian giant as “a partner, a competitor and a systemic rival”. Beijing has not taken well to the latest report from the commission and on Tuesday he decided to cancel the visit of Borrell, a few days to occur. In addition to announcing that as of August 1, it will require a license to be able to export from China products containing gallium y germanytwo essential minerals for the ecological transition who wants to lead the EU.
Europa y China have declared a trade war, covert. While Netherlands announced on Friday new restrictions on the export of microchips advanced to Beijing, the Chinese authorities struck back on Monday with an export control regime. The minerals that could suffer these restrictions −gallium and germanium− are essential for the manufacture of products such as semiconductors5G base stations and solar panels, among others.
Both metals are considered «critics» y “strategic” according to the EU’s own regulations, which means that they depend on a single source and are important for the Europe industriesas well as for European defense needs. In this context of growing hostility, the visit of Borrell to Beijing for a meeting with the Chinese Foreign Minister, who gang, could have helped to loosen the atmosphere. However, China has decided to take his pulse with the European Union Until the last consequences.
