After COVID, the EU needs a new approach to China

Hilde Vautmans MEP | 14th April 2021 | Uncategorised

Uighurs hold East Turkistan flags and a sign that reads "Stop The Massacres" near the Chinese embassy in Berlin. Sean Gallup/Getty Images

The pandemic has proved a turning point for China's foreign policy and public relations. Brussels should reciprocate.

Coronavirus has proved a geopolitical earthquake. Among the many changes accelerating after its outbreak, the virus has also been a turning point for Chinese foreign policy and influence operations around the world. This calls for a careful reassessment of EU strategy on China. For the past year, China has been more assertive in its foreign policy and at the same time bolder in its contempt for human rights, democratic principles and the country’s commitments to bilateral and multilateral agreements. The crackdown on Hong Kong’s democratic movement, the military stand-offs on the India-China border, the South China Sea and the Taiwan strait, and of course the egregious violations of the human rights of the Uighurs: these are not only matters of grave concern, but indications of a more profound shift in China’s behaviour. In Europe, there is evidence of coordinated hacking campaigns conducted by Chinese state-linked groups and substantiated reports of major disinformation campaigns at ...

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