Eu Gropes for Coherent Line on China
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - As the Beijing Olympic Games highlight China's emergence as a world power, the European union is struggling to take a coherent approach to the Asian giant.
Depending on whom you talk to in Brussels, China is a trade headache, an economic opportunity, a serial human rights violator, a resource-guzzling menace to the planet, a strategic partner or a geopolitical threat. or all of the above.
Typically for the EU, no one is in charge of relations with the world's most populous nation and fourth biggest economy.
"The EU views China still largely through the trade prism," said an EU official involved in foreign policy. "We call them a strategic partner, but we mostly talk to them about bras and shoes and the exchange rate of the renminbi (currency)."
When the 27-nation bloc's trade deficit with Beijing hit a record 160 billion euros ($247.4 billion) last year, southern member states that make textiles, footwear and furniture pleaded with Brussels for protection against cheap imports.
How to respond to the rise of the Asian export powerhouse has pitted pro-free trade countries such as the Nordic states and Britain against those such as Italy and France who say China breaks trade rules in ways that cost European jobs.
EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson has done his best to resist protectionist pressure, arguing that China's export boom has not reduced European prosperity -- far from it.
Mandelson, the unofficial relationship manager with Beijing and a frequent visitor to China, is a vocal member of the "economic opportunity" school of thought.
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - As the Beijing Olympic Games highlight China's emergence as a world power, the European union is struggling to take a coherent approach to the Asian giant.
Depending on whom you talk to in Brussels, China is a trade headache, an economic opportunity, a serial human rights violator, a resource-guzzling menace to the planet, a strategic partner or a geopolitical threat. or all of the above.
Typically for the EU, no one is in charge of relations with the world's most populous nation and fourth biggest economy.
"The EU views China still largely through the trade prism," said an EU official involved in foreign policy. "We call them a strategic partner, but we mostly talk to them about bras and shoes and the exchange rate of the renminbi (currency)."
When the 27-nation bloc's trade deficit with Beijing hit a record 160 billion euros ($247.4 billion) last year, southern member states that make textiles, footwear and furniture pleaded with Brussels for protection against cheap imports.
How to respond to the rise of the Asian export powerhouse has pitted pro-free trade countries such as the Nordic states and Britain against those such as Italy and France who say China breaks trade rules in ways that cost European jobs.
EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson has done his best to resist protectionist pressure, arguing that China's export boom has not reduced European prosperity -- far from it.
Mandelson, the unofficial relationship manager with Beijing and a frequent visitor to China, is a vocal member of the "economic opportunity" school of thought.
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