Complaints have been mounting in the West, especially Western Europe, about the threat of cheap Chinese manufacturing products flooding Western markets. The main concern is electric vehicles, solar panels, and wind turbines, the key green technologies in the fight against climate change. A common accusation is that China has provided these industries with unfair state subsides which bestow on them an unfair market advantage.
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There has been constant low-level sniping in the West against China’s record on climate change, in particular its expansion of coal mining, and its target of 2060 rather than 2050 for carbon zero. I have viewed this with mild if irritated amusement, because when it comes to results, then China, we can be sure, will deliver and most Western countries will fall short, probably well short. It is now becoming clear, however, that we will not have to wait much longer to judge their relative performances. The answer is already near at hand.
The 24th China-EU Summit will be held in Beijing on Thursday. The relationship between China and Europe has shown considerable resilience in the face of the tumultuous events of the last few years. Two of the most divisive factors – COVID-19 and the Ukraine war – have retreated in the European public mind over the last year. The biggest single geopolitical factor turning Europeans against China has been the Ukraine war and a widespread European belief that China, at least implicitly, supported Russia. Skilful Chinese diplomacy has largely defused this, and many Europeans now hope China might become a major broker in any peace settlement. One of the key factors that have served to mellow European attitudes has been a growing view that China is a constructive force for peace on the global stage.
We witnessed two events in October which tell opposite stories about the prospects for mutual learning between different civilizations, religions, and ethnicities. The contrasts could not be greater. The first was Hamas’s attack on Israel and, in response, Israel’s blanket bombing and then invasion of Gaza. No region of the world speaks more eloquently of the failure to engage in mutual respect and dialogue between different races, religions, and cultures than this part of the Middle East. Today the Palestinians either live as a discriminated minority in what is essentially an apartheid state, or they live in Gaza and West Bank, which are in effect Israeli dependencies. They are denied a home in their homeland.
The Palestinian question has spent long periods hidden from view, the plight of the Palestinians forgotten and ignored, only intermittently forcing its way back on the agenda. Once more, the huge historic grievance felt by Palestinians has erupted, dominating the Middle East, and demanding the attention of the world. To reduce the causes of the present conflict to the action of Hamas on October 7 is entirely to miss the point. The Palestinian question will not go away until the fundamental issue of a Palestinian state is addressed.
BRICS Summit proved a triumph. Over the course of the last year, over 40 countries have expressed interest in joining BRICS. At the Summit, the previous five members became eleven, and no doubt more will follow. BRICS now represents 37% of global GDP. The developing world has acquired a powerful new voice on the global stage. And as further new members are added, its influence will surely grow.
If many scratched their heads in puzzlement about BRI when it was first announced, this has long ceased to be the case. Everyone now knows in varying degrees what it is about. In ten short years, it has become part of the global geo-economic firmament, no less than the IMF and the World Bank. It is not an exaggeration to suggest that over the decade of its existence it has changed the world.
We now find ourselves at a great historical juncture. Hitherto modernization was the preserve of a small minority of privileged countries in the world, with the great majority of the world excluded. Now modernization is no longer for a tiny sliver of humanity but is increasingly accessible to the great majority.
Europe’s wholesale acquiescence in America’s agenda for the Ukraine war, combined with its willingness to support, at least in part, the US’s growing assault on and demonization of China, have reminded us that Europe’s embrace of independence and its willingness to distance itself from Atlanticism, remains fragile and contested. We should not be surprised. Europe has looked westward across the Atlantic for several centuries. Its relationship with America has very deep roots and still exercises a powerful gravitational pull.
It seems that more and more America speaks with one anti-China voice which becomes more threatening and belligerent by the day. In March, finally, there was a chink of light. A statement by the Editorial Board of the New York Times called for a strategy of engagement rather than confrontation with China, arguing that confrontation was in neither America’s interests nor China’s. Whether it will have much influence remains to be seen, but hopefully it will encourage other voices to speak out too.