China relationship will be determined by Beijing’s behavior, EU policy chief says

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Karuizawa – The European Union’s foreign policy chief said Sunday that the relationship between China and Europe will be determined by Beijing’s behavior, including what happens with Taiwan.

Comments by the EU High Representative, Josep Borrell, in a distant speech at the start of the Group of Seven (G7) foreign ministers’ meeting in Japan, highlighted two of the focus topics ahead of the three-day meeting: the need for a unified approach to China and concerns about Taiwan.

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China takes center stage as the foreign ministers of the world’s advanced democracies meet in Karuizawa, Japan. Japan, the only Asian member of the group, has deep concerns about neighboring China’s growing power in the region and is particularly focused on the possibility of military action against Taiwan.

“Anything that happens in the Taiwan Strait will mean a lot to us,” Borrell said, stressing the need to engage with China and keep communications open.

A senior US State Department official said the ministers will likely discuss their “joint and coordinated” approach to China.

Beijing regards Taiwan as Chinese territory and has not renounced the use of force to seize the democratically governed island. Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen said that only the island’s residents could decide their own future.

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Recent comments by French President Emmanuel Macron have highlighted potential differences between Europe and the United States on China. In interviews after his visit to China this month, Macron warned against being drawn into a crisis over Taiwan driven by “American tempo and Chinese overreaction”.

That led to a backlash, and European foreign policy officials on Friday urged Beijing not to use force against Taiwan, taking a hard line.

“There is a collective concern about a number of actions that China is taking,” the US official told reporters on the flight to Japan from Vietnam, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the information.

In Vietnam, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken met with Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chin. The two sides expressed their desire to deepen their relations, as Washington seeks to strengthen alliances to confront China.

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‘Common and popular’

There is likely to be discussion about how members can continue to take a “common and coordinated approach” to China, the official said.

The official said the recent G7 statements included calls for frank and constructive engagement with Beijing while acknowledging that “all G7 members individually have deep economic ties” with the world’s second largest economy.

German Foreign Minister Analina Berbock has sought to emphasize unity among G7 members.

“As democracies, we are successful in systematic competition with authoritarian powers when our partners and friends around the world trust us. We must avoid that our unity is misunderstood by others as a separation or that new divisions open up,” she said in a statement ahead of her trip to Japan.

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The senior US official said Taiwan would also be a topic of discussion, but declined to comment on any specific new language.

For host nation Japan, the crisis in Ukraine has heightened concern about possible Chinese military intervention in neighboring Taiwan.

“For Japan, the G-7 is a platform from which to say that security issues are not just about the Ukraine war,” said Yuichiro Sato, a professor of international relations at Ritsumeikan Asia-Pacific University.

“Putting China on the agenda is not only important for Japan, but also for the United States,” he said.

The British Foreign Office said in a statement that the G7 ministers will discuss how international support can be used strategically to help Ukrainian forces continue their advances on the battlefield and “secure a lasting peace”. (Reporting by Hamira Pamuk and Sakura Murakami; Additional reporting by William James in London and Andreas Rink in Berlin; Writing by David Dolan; Editing by William Mallard)