Over the weekend, China’s top diplomat, Wang Yi, sent a message to his counterparts in Europe, saying that China will always be “consistent and stable” and a “force for stability,” regardless of how the world changes. Wang made the assertion on Saturday during his remarks at the Munich Security Conference. European leaders are closely monitoring the forthcoming US elections, fearing that the return of former President Donald Trump will destroy their alliance with Washington. Those concerns flared in the past week after Trump said he would not defend NATO allies that failed to spend enough on defense – a stunning threat for many in Europe as Russia’s invasion grinds on in Ukraine.
The timing of Trump’s comments couldn’t have been better for Wang, who is visiting Europe as Beijing struggles to repair deteriorating relations with the bloc — an effort made more urgent by its domestic economic struggles and ongoing frictions with the US.
“No matter how the world changes, China, as a responsible major country, will keep its major principles and policies consistent and stable and serve as a staunch force for stability in a turbulent world,” Wang said during remarks in Munich, while calling for China and Europe to “stay clear of geopolitical and ideological distractions” and work together. But while Wang’s pitch may land on receptive ears in some European capitals where leaders hope to stabilize aspects of their relations with China, Beijing also has a major issue when it comes to making real progress to repair ties, analysts say: its steadfast relationship with Moscow.
Those challenges were underscored over the weekend in Munich, where the security conference was overshadowed by shock and anger as reports emerged of the death at age 47 of imprisoned Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny.Leaders decried his death as the work of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s regime – with outrage amplifying mounting concern about the fate of Ukraine, which lost key ground to Russia on Friday.
“Wang’s message to his European hosts is that geopolitical differences should not be allowed to get in the way of close cooperation,” said Noah Barkin, a visiting senior fellow at the German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF) think tank.“What is left unsaid is that China is not prepared to change the positions and policies that worry the Europeans most, namely its deepening relationship with Russia and its distortive trade practices.”n Europe, this has galvanized concerns about China’s own global ambitions and played a role in the European Union’s ongoing push to recalibrate its policy toward China.
In a panel discussion in Munich on Saturday, NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg drew a parallel between Russian aggression and China, saying continued American support for Ukraine would “send a message” to Xi discouraging potential use of force in Taiwan, a self-ruled island China’s ruling Communist Party claims.EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell reiterated the bloc’s “expectation that China refrains from supporting Russia,” in a meeting with Wang Friday. Western governments have not accused Beijing of sending extensive aid to Russia’s military.The EU is considering placing trade restrictions on three mainland Chinese firms as part of a proposed round of measures meant to hamper the Russian war effort, Bloomberg reported last week.
In response to a query about the report from CNN, China’s Foreign Ministry said it “firmly opposes illegal sanctions or ‘long-arm jurisdiction’ against China under the pretext of China-Russia cooperation” and that “normal exchanges” between Chinese and Russian enterprises “are not targeted at any third party.”Wang made an apparent attempt to address concerns about China’s ties to Russia over the weekend, framing the relationship for his audience in Munich as part of Beijing’s efforts to cooperate with “major countries” to address global challenges.
“Russia is China’s largest neighboring country,” Wang said, repeating usual statements that their relationship is not an alliance and does not “target any third party.” As such, “a China-Russia relationship that grows steadily … meets the shared interests of the two countries” and “serves the strategic stability of the Asia-Pacific and the world,” he said. When asked by conference chairman Christoph Heusgen in a public discussion whether China should do more to rein in Russia, Wang also hit back at what he claimed were attempts “to blame China or to shift the responsibility of resolving the Ukraine crisis to China.” Beijing has worked “relentlessly” to promote peace talks, he said.
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