Taipei: European and other Western leaders are increasingly seeking engagement with Beijing, reflecting a consequential shift in foreign policy. The once-prominent calls for “decoupling” and “de-risking” from China have given way to the recognition that engagement is unavoidable, a report highlighted.
According to a recent report in the ‘Taipei Times’, China appears to have benefited from US President Donald Trump’s ‘America First’ and ‘Make America Great Again’ approach, leaving countries worldwide scrambling to defend their interests and reputation amid an unpredictable and self-centred US.
As a result, it said, many countries are reversing their foreign policy priorities, increasingly turning to China as an alternative economic partner, while Beijing hosts Western leaders, – “albeit not with a red carpet” but rather “on its own terms”.
In January, Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin, Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer visited China.
“The visits underscore a broader trend in which Western powers are prioritising economic and diplomatic engagement over ideological positioning. For Europe, at least in practice, economic expediency is taking precedence over strategic caution and normative concerns,” the report detailed.
“Yet this does not amount to a formal overhaul of Europe’s China policy, nor does it represent an explicit geopolitical realignment. European leaders are not so much choosing China as yielding to circumstance. The underlying calculation seems to be that, as relations with Washington grow more uncertain, workable ties with Beijing must be preserved, almost at any cost,” it added.
The report stated that for many European countries, the choice appears binary — China or the US — though the perspective is “flawed”.
“The challenge China poses is distinct from Europe’s ties with Washington, yet leaders are increasingly viewing Beijing only through the lens of US-China competition. In doing so, they overlook the costs of deeper engagement with Beijing,” it stressed.
While China’s actions and ground realities have remained the same, the report said, what has changed is Europe’s ties with the US.
“Altering China policy in reaction to US unpredictability is neither coherent nor sustainable. Equally striking is the near-total absence of democratic values in this recalibration, despite their centrality to Europe’s declared foreign policy identity. Cooperation is being pursued, but with little clarity about its limits or costs,” it noted.
The report added: “While high-level visits are unlikely to reshape the global order in China’s favour, they are a telling sign of fleeting interests. They confirm that China is increasingly seen as a viable alternative to the US, which is problematic in itself. The flurry of engagement exposes the incoherence of Europe’s China policy and its lack of a consistent strategy for managing Beijing while navigating deteriorating US-China relations”.
(IANS)
