In January 2018, Brussels’ magnificent Bouzar Theatre was the backdrop for a People’s Republic of China video on the historic moment. It was the occasion of the Chinese New Year celebration. A singer was performing, and a video played behind him prominently featured China’s achievements. In the video, the world was being informed about China’s first nuclear explosion, joining the World Trade Organization, building the first aircraft carrier and other issues. Diplomats, military representatives and other officials in the audience were not only watching all this but also writing notes. The choice of words in this introductory video was so realistic and based on impressive facts that there was no question of dismissing it as mere propaganda. The question was not whether they were being influenced by China’s achievements or not. They may have been impressed, but more than that, they were surprised and worried. China’s growing military power, booming economy and advances in technology have awakened many European policymakers from their slumber. The European Union has been thinking about China in an unannounced, missionary way for a long time. There have been various predictions about China’s future, but now it seems that most of the predictions were naive or optimistic.
Along with the extraordinary increase in China’s economic and military power, there have also been changes in the strategic triangle of Beijing, Washington and Brussels. During Trump’s presidency, the US has seen China more as a strategic competitor. According to most European leaders, Trump can say anything at any time and cannot be fully trusted, which has resulted in most European countries taking a more independent path in terms of strategy. By suddenly announcing the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan and Syria, Trump made a U-turn on the 17-year-old military doctrine of the United States, forcing James Mattis to resign, who said that the situation regarding the security of Europe has become disturbing. are
In December 2018, Beijing published a white paper on relations with the European Union. The white paper documents how China has worked with European powers in various fields. Especially in the high technology sector. The white paper also outlines what Beijing expects from Brussels on Taiwan and Tibet issues, and how China has also worked with the European Union to tackle fake and fabricated news that threatens freedom of expression. What is the work? The white paper also states that Europe should support China to block the unilateral actions of the United States.
The Chinese leadership also indicated in this white paper that it is ready to play its role and fill the gap wherever the US withdrawal will create. In the words of Jeremy Rifkin, China spent two decades trying to turn the “European dream” into reality in the postmodern moments of Said. Some EU officials say that the EU does not do geopolitics and many in Europe believe that whatever the EU does has no political consequences. Thus, the European Union presents its region as a “playground” for the major powers. The “habit of obedience” that Europe has cultivated with great effort has given China more and more opportunities to play openly. Russia has made an extraordinary show of power in relation to Ukraine and has affected a few other European countries connected to Ukraine to some extent, but it has not had a significant negative impact on the overall environment of the European Union. There is a significant positive role it has played in ending the threat of Russian gas blockades to the EU.
The European Union officials keep saying that the EU’s actions do not have political consequences, but the fact is that now some European countries have started to see China as a major competitor at the individual level and the European Union at the collective level. Is. China’s “Made in 2025” strategy has played a role of awakening Europe’s high-tech industry.
Both Europe and India are taking China seriously. For both, China’s growing political, military and economic power has become a wake-up call. In such a situation, an important question is whether India’s “Yava Shakti” ideal and the European dream will conflict? In December 2018, the European Council adopted the draft of the EU Strategy on India, which ushered in a new era of EU-India relations. Until now, the general perception was that the European Union has given more importance to China and has neglected India altogether. Adopting a new strategy towards India will give the impression that the European Union wants to take India along and at the same time is in favour of fostering a new world order that works on the basis of principles. . In addition, the European Union is also trying to improve the security setup, but after the Indian intelligence agency “RAW” was involved in terrorism in countries other than Canada by the Modi government, the security agencies of the European Union India has expressed many of its concerns at present. On the other hand, it remains to be seen what kind of steps the Chinese leadership paves the way based on the contents of this white paper.
In February 2017, France, Italy and Germany asked the EU to set up a commission to make recommendations on screening foreign direct investment in Europe. Although the three European powers did not name any country, it is certain that they were unusually concerned about direct investment by Chinese nationals. It has also come to light that Chinese investment in some European countries is so high that the proposal of France, Italy and Germany could not be discussed openly. The European Council, the European Commission and the European Parliament… the three institutions stayed away from the formal negotiation and discussion in this regard. Critics say that the current document found in this regard has no breath as it has been stripped of all its force.
The proposal regarding the screening of foreign direct investment in Europe has come at a time when the people of many member states of the European Union are complaining that foreign direct investment is allowed in European countries but compared to this. In China, there is no scope for investment and no access to the open market. Most enterprises in China are actually subordinated to state interests. In 2008, Chinese investment in Europe was 700 million dollars. In 2017, it had reached 30 billion dollars.
The Chinese investment in the Greek port of “Peras” was originally intended to create a corridor through Belgrade and Budapest to the rest of Europe, but now it is clear that the serious effects of this investment are being felt by Greece and Hungary. . By the way, most of the Chinese investments are in Germany, France and the United Kingdom and the emphasis is on the fact that the technology that cannot be obtained from America should be obtained from Europe. The issue of bilateral investment became more prominent when the well-known German robotics maker “Midea” was bought by the Chinese-owned company “Coca”. According to defense analysts, German engineers are now developing robotics for the People’s Liberation Army, which was definitely not a good deal.
Now Germany has also started keeping a close eye on foreign direct investment. It is not difficult to understand now that the Chinese leadership and the entire nation are on the path to shame the Chinese dream. A number of European states could not help but feel the tremors as a result of the program of war exercises with Russia in the Black Sea and the Mediterranean Sea, as well as in the Baltic Sea, close to Europe’s own backyard.
EU officials are also realizing that China is now working with Russia in an environment that affects Europe. In February 2018, two German think tanks also said in their reports that China is now trying hard to influence the affairs of Europe to an extraordinary extent. All this is so obvious that EU policy makers cannot ignore it.
The German chancellor expressed concern over China’s growing influence in the Balkan region. At the Munich Security Conference in 2018, German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel expressed his concern over the “Belt and Road” project presented by Chinese President Xi Jinping, saying that China is developing a system that, like our system, has democracy, human rights and Not based on the principles of freedom. However, China has created a rift in Europe by harnessing its enormous economic power. All the European powers are no longer talking in unison on many issues.
For example, in March 2017, Hungary refused to sign a joint letter regarding the torture of detained lawyers. In June 2017, Greece blocked a statement at the United Nations condemning China’s human rights record. In July 2016, Hungary, Greece and Croatia vetoed an EU statement criticizing China’s territorial claims in the South China Sea. From all these examples, China’s ability to influence the policies of the European Union can be well estimated.
There are several areas in which Europe still has a clear lead. Europe is working diligently to maintain its leadership in new high technologies and Europe believes that doing so is necessary to secure the future in terms of development and security. Europe is very cautious about technology transfer. 5. Europe has developed a clear strategy regarding G-technology and is maintaining full control over it.
EU officials may not find their options too attractive, but the time has come for them to stop being mere spectators and take action, according to political analysts who follow the EU closely. . Europe will now have to decide whether it is the right way to work together in the postmodern era, both in terms of security and development, or to abandon it and see whether European powers moving together in new ways. Will it improve the global system to some extent or not? However, China has determined that in order to be called a superpower in the world in the future, it is very important to use the trade markets peacefully instead of war and aggression. Presenting concrete proposals to establish four key partnerships between China and the European Union, he gave a strong introduction to his vision for the future, which he still strongly adheres to today. The passage of time has proven the propositions presented by the Chinese President to be correct and its practical importance has become even more important in the current situation.
Immediately after the withdrawal from Afghanistan, China has filled this gap with its commercial wisdom and now has established its trade corridors in the region along with Pakistan, Iran, and Afghanistan in all the adjacent states and has a strong presence in the markets of these countries. It is progressing successfully in establishing the network for which it is laying the first railway line in Afghanistan which will connect Afghanistan to all the neighboring states and this connection will then be connected to CPEC of Pakistan which will later Now it will be connected to Europe by becoming part of “One Road One Belt”.
On the other hand, the United States has once again started a new war with the help of some of its European allies to humiliate Russia through Ukraine. There are and the international financial institutions themselves are concerned with the ground realities while declaring Russia’s economy to be better than before, while at the beginning of the Ukraine war, the whole of Europe was worried about the supply of gas by Russia, and this is The reason is that Europe seems reluctant to openly support America. Now, according to many international defense analysts, Russia and the United States have learned from the mistake they made in attacking Afghanistan. no.
Today’s world is increasingly uncertain and unstable, due to which closer ties between China and the European Union and the resulting mutual trade benefits and addressing future global challenges are receiving more attention, and the Chinese President The proposals given ten years ago and the Chinese vision have proved that new chapters of prosperity can be opened for the people of our countries for mutual agreement and cooperation and national development, for which there is no need to be afraid of unnecessary concerns. This is the reason why China is now one of the most important trading partners of the European Union, and on the contrary, despite the negative effects of the global trade recession, the total trade volume between China and the European Union has reached 783 billion dollars in 2023. The stock of bilateral investment has crossed $250 billion which is a record.
China has proven that it is ready to become Europe’s reliable, key, preferred and industrial partner in business cooperation, science and technology cooperation and supply as both sides have the potential to achieve mutual success and shared prosperity. Cooperation between them is fully capable of advancing rapidly in emerging fields such as digital economy, green development and environmental protection, new energy and artificial intelligence.
According to the Business Confidence Survey 2023 released by the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China (EUCCC), more than 90 percent of the European companies included in the survey made China their investment destination and more than 80 percent of the Chinese companies included in the survey. They have completed their homework on expanding their business in Europe.
China is the largest developing country in the world and Europe is home to more developed countries than any other continent. Both China and the EU are cooperating with each other to maintain fair competition and free trade with openness, wary of a fragmented global economy and a rising tide of protectionism. They are in the process of preparing for a joint resistance against globalization by adopting a policy of avoiding overstating the concept of security. This is why China welcomes the active participation of the European Union and other European countries in pursuit of the common goal of achieving the “Belt and Road Initiative” and “Global Development Initiative” and the EU’s Global Gateway. It also looks ready to align with the strategy so that developing countries can take advantage of the respective strengths to help accelerate their journey to development.
In view of the changing and unstable international situation, China and Europe need more cooperation. Both sides must work together to practice multilateralism, advocate openness and development, and facilitate dialogue between civilizations. They must jointly build an equitable and orderly multipolar world and promote globally beneficial and inclusive economic globalization.
Nature has once again given Pakistan a golden opportunity to reap these advantages due to its geographical presence and take such emergency and revolutionary measures by urgently remedying the criminal delay in the completion of the CPEC project so far so that the Arab brotherly countries The investment coming from the side should also be given a direction after which the investment of the European countries should also turn to Pakistan. For this, it is necessary to create a favourable environment to end political chaos and unrest in the country and all the political parties should at least agree on the country’s economy and prepare a mutual plan so that whatever government comes in the country, but these economic goals will be achieved. will never be subjected to politics.
Baba Iqbal remembered:
اندازِ بیاں گرچہ بہت شوخ نہیں ہے
شاید کہ اتر جائے ترے دل میں مری بات
یا وسعت افلاک میں تکبیر مسلسل
یا خاک کے آغوش میں تسبیح و مناجات
وہ مذہب مردان خود آگاہ و خدا مست
یہ مذہب ملا و جمادات و نباتات
The style will not be he vivid and lively still,
Perhaps the meaning may penetrate thy mind.
The faith of men of God and ecstasy,
Is like the call to prayer echoing in the skies.
The faith of the Mullah, a vermin of the earth,
Is the telling of beads and mumblings in the dust.
Wednesday 29 May 2024
