China-EU High-Level Meeting on 28th... China Reaches Out to France Upset Over 'AUKUS'

AUKUS Launches to Contain China... Rift Between US and France

[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Yoon-joo] China and the European Union (EU) will hold a high-level meeting next week. Attention is focused on the moves of China and France amid the rapid cooling of relations between the United States and France, which have been fractured since the launch of AUKUS, the new security alliance between the US, the UK, and Australia.

According to Hong Kong media South China Morning Post (SCMP) on the 25th, sources from China and the EU revealed that Wang Yi (王毅), China's State Councilor and Foreign Minister, and Josep Borrell, the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, are scheduled to hold the 11th Strategic Dialogue via video conference on the 28th.

It is also reported that Han Zheng (韓正), a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China and Vice Premier, plans to meet with Frans Timmermans, the EU Vice President of the European Commission.

This strategic dialogue is regularly held ahead of the annual summit between China and the EU, but it is attracting attention amid the rapidly changing international situation.

After the launch of AUKUS, the US and the UK decided to support Australia with nuclear-powered submarine technology, leading Australia to overturn its submarine supply contract with France. In response, France has publicly expressed its outrage, saying it was "stabbed in the back."

Australia and China had an economically friendly relationship, but the situation has drastically reversed. The trigger was Australia's ban on China's Huawei participation in the 5G network in 2018. Especially after Australia pointed to China as the origin of COVID-19 in April last year, China imposed import bans on Australia's major exports, escalating the conflict. Amid this, the deepening honeymoon relationship between the US and Australia, who are taking a tough stance against China in security and economic matters, is making the international situation more complex.

Moreover, in Europe, doubts have been raised about the reliability of the alliance with the US following the US military withdrawal from Afghanistan, and the term of Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel, a key leader, is also coming to an end soon.

The EU has also recently aligned with the US in pressuring China and expressed support for Lithuania, which opened a representative office for Taiwan. The European Parliament has also suspended ratification of the Comprehensive Agreement on Investment (CAI) between the EU and China, citing human rights issues concerning the Uyghur population in Xinjiang (新疆).

Meanwhile, Lu Saye (盧沙野), the Chinese Ambassador to France, emphasized cooperation between China and France in an interview with Russia's Sputnik News, according to the Chinese Embassy in France.

Ambassador Lu criticized AUKUS as a "small group" targeting China and pointed out that the transfer of nuclear-powered submarine technology seriously undermines international nuclear non-proliferation efforts.