China announced last year a fund to provide US$11 billion in capital for central and eastern European nations, and many leaders are welcoming China with open arms. But Beijing’s growing presence in the region is ruffling feathers among other EU members, reports the Financial Times.
Critics in the EU worry that Beijing is trying to diminish the bloc’s influence and erode challenges to Chinese investment in sensitive high-tech projects.
There are also concerns that the investment push has already influenced the EU’s voice on foreign policy issues, notably, when Hungary and Greece were unwilling to sign off on mention of China’s legal defeat in The Hague over South China Sea territorial claims.
The divide in Europe looks likely to only grow deeper in the near term, as leaders from Hungary, Serbia, Poland and the Czech Republic represent Europe at the Belt and Road summit in Beijing next week.
What EU paranoia? This is an article by a NATO cold war warrior.
The EU should welcome Eastern Europe’s embracement of Chinese investment and trade instead of being wary of them. Chinese investment should invigorate industrialization which in turn should improve Eastern Europe’s demand for EU goods and services. Joining China’s Belt & Road Initiative (BRI) would further enhance economic growth in Eastern Europe, a scenario which can only benefit the EU.
Worrying about a dilution of EU influence over Eastern Europe and other parts of the world is unfounded paranoid. China is not interested in competing with the EU for global dominance. Besides, how much influence the EU has in the world depends in part on its economic prospects. To that end, increased China-Eastern Europe trade and investment would expand EU economic prospects.