當年今日
關於我們

Efforts made by China to commune with EU undone | Glacier Kwong

蘋果日報 2021/03/25 09:44


The European Union(EU) finally decided last week to impose sanctions on Chinese officials accused of conducting human rights abuses in East Turkistan. It has been the first since the Tiananmen Massacre in 1989. The sanctions, which include travel bans and asset freezes, are primarily targeted at officials accused of seriously infringing upon the human rights of Uighur Muslims. The act itself is symbolic because it is the first time in decades that the Union has been willing to cross the threshold, and it is also a first for the Union to use its newly adopted sanctioning toolbox.
It is not unlikely that the sanctions imposed by the EU will be extended in the future to cover places outside East Turkistan where human rights violations take place, such as Hong Kong and Taiwan. The Union’s willingness to take the first step has demonstrated that it is capable of upholding its principles of human rights, which is a signal to the world that it will keep on doing so.
It is worth noting that despite the sanctions announced, heads of states in the EU are still eager to conclude the CAI(Comprehensive Agreement on Investment), an investment deal between China and the EU. If the EU decides to proceed with the negotiations and conclude the deal, it would seem self-contradictory—on the one hand, it condemns China for the serious human rights violation; on the other hand, it provides the CCP(Chinese Communist Party) with a false sense of legitimacy to carry on with the inhumane and cruel torture, because China’s economy benefits from human rights violation countrywide.
But Beijing has sabotaged its own chance of smoothly concluding the deal and having Europe in its pocket by means of its usual dividing and conquering tactics. As it immediately responded by criticizing the EU for its reckless approach with a countermeasure to impose sanctions on 10 European Parliament members and academics, the possibility of maintaining a good relationship with the Union is dimmer than ever.
A few months ago, everyone was worried about if the principal conclusion of the CAI signalled the warming of relationships between China and Europe. Now it is shown clearly that Beijing’s retaliation has just put it on ice. There is no doubt that Bejing’s retaliation against the European sanctions is substantial – the sanctioned are high profile politicians and scholars who are particularly interested in human rights issues in East Turkistan. Beijing’s swift and material retaliation will trigger discontent from the EU.
It is unlikely that the European Parliament will hold a meeting to confirm the EU-China investment agreement when their members are sanctioned. The largest parties in the European Parliament have voiced their discontent with the sanctions imposed by Beijing and stated that removing them is the prerequisite for the Parliament to discuss the CAI.
Yet I do not believe that the CCP will back down under the accusations made by democratic states in the West, given its track records and its recent wolf-warrior strategy in diplomacy. So Beijing has undone its effort made in the past to establish good relationships with Europe, and Beijing will no longer be seen as a ‘strategic partner’ by the EU as before. With the EU and US having agreed to engage and cooperate with each other, and other democratic countries imposing sanctions on China, the retaliation was launched. The CCP is cornering itself in the global arena.
Although we should not be entirely optimistic that the western world will change its attitude towards China overnight, changes are observed to be slowly taking place. The Movement in Hong Kong and the human rights abuses in other places in China have shown the world China’s true colors, and made real impact in the global arena.
(Glacier Kwong, born and raised in Hong Kong, became a digital rights and political activist at the age of 15. She is currently pursuing her PhD in Law and working on the course for Hong Kong in Germany. Her work has been published on Washington Post, TIME, etc.)
We invite you to join the conversation by submitting columns to our opinion section: [email protected]
Apple Daily reserves the right to refuse, abridge, alter or edit guest opinion columns for accuracy, length, clarity, and style, and the right to withdraw and withhold columns based on the discretion of our editorial page editors.
The opinions of the writers do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editorial board.
---------------------------------
Apple Daily’s all-new English Edition is now available on the mobile app: bit.ly/2yMMfQE
To download the latest version,
Or search Appledaily in App Store or Google Play