China-EU ties remain pragmatic in pandemic
Picture: VCG
The cooperation between China and the EU members to struggle COVID-19 all through the pandemic relies on concrete mutual respect and friendship, relatively than diplomatic pressures and energy politics, Chinese language observers mentioned Monday following media experiences alleging China pressures the EU to melt report on China’s response to the COVID-19 outbreak.
Regardless of some conservative forces and media in Europe nonetheless maintain biased stance towards China, the China-EU mutual help will not be affected because the EU understands that solely China can present provides whereas their conventional ally the US might even hijack their supplies, observers mentioned.
Some Western media together with Reuters, New York Occasions and German newspaper Welt am Sonntag lately reported that China had pressured the EU and its member states like Germany to reward China’s efforts to struggle the virus and take away the feedback towards China from an EU report which accused Beijing of operating a “international disinformation” marketing campaign.
Track Luzheng, a Paris-based Chinese language scholar and analysis fellow on the China Institute of Fudan College, advised the World Occasions on Monday that this sort of biased information towards China could be very regular in European media. Nonetheless, their impression on China-EU cooperation could be very restricted as a result of the governments of the EU members perceive that who can supply assist once they desperately want medical supplies and different provides.
The Chinese language Embassy to Germany responded in an announcement on Sunday, saying Welt am Sonntag’s report, which said the “German inside ministry mentioned in a letter” that Chinese language diplomats approached German politicians to make optimistic feedback on China’s dealing with of the pandemic is “unfaithful and irresponsible.”
Any try to stigmatize China’s efforts to regulate the outbreak and its cooperation with different international locations will injury the environment of cooperation and weaken our efforts to struggle the virus, the Chinese language embassy famous.
Chinese language analysts mentioned China isn’t threatening anybody to chop off provides if the nation would not reward China, however China has the fitting to remind these media and politicians who’re hostile and biased that their habits might have an effect on the cooperation, and sufferers of their nations may very well be harmed by their ignorance.
When the general public abstract of the EU report went on-line on Friday, the part on “state-sponsored disinformation, which had singled out China and Russia,” had been folded into the remainder of the report, and the phrases have been softened, the New York Occasions reported.
China’s publicity functionality remains to be weak in comparison with the highly effective Western mainstream media and US propaganda, so regardless of how onerous China tries to inform the West how China managed to regulate the outbreak and warned the world of the intense scenario by the World Well being Group within the early stage, in addition to to supply secure and big provides, Western media and a few anti-China political forces can nonetheless efficiently stigmatize China, Track famous.
In line with the Washington Publish on Saturday, a brand new US Republican technique memo advises Senate candidates in charge China for the coronavirus outbreak, hyperlink Democrats to the Chinese language authorities and keep away from discussing President Trump’s dealing with of the disaster.
“That is clear proof of who’s utilizing a worldwide disinformation marketing campaign,” Track mentioned, however he harassed that China is able to balancing stigmatization as a result of China has the facility to unravel issues and supply concrete assist.
“The EU cannot get something from the US, not even one single masks or ventilator,” Track mentioned.
Li Haidong, a professor on the Institute of Worldwide Relations of the China International Affairs College, advised the World Occasions on Monday that China’s help and help to the world is what nobody can deny, and China is the one logistical heart within the international struggle towards the pandemic.
EU members have had a really shut cooperation with China all through the pandemic. Italy and Spain are two international locations which had a really severe scenario, and whereas they acquired no assist from their Western allies, China has develop into their solely hope, which despatched large quantity of medical provides and a medical staff.
Different EU members like France, Germany and Hungary all acquired provides from China and non-EU European international locations like Serbia additionally acquired China’s help as China is probably the most skilled nation to deal with the pandemic and can even produce sufficient provides in time.
The newest research performed by the Piepoli Institute that displays public sentiment each week on the evolution of the COVID-19 phenomenon reveals the nation that Italians see as serving to them probably the most is China (52 %), adopted by Albania (18 %) and Russia (9 %). Solely three % mentioned it is the US, ANSA information company reported on April 7.
However whereas China reveals its sincerity based mostly on humanitarianism, some mentioned China is attempting to make use of its industrial energy and provide chain to form its optimistic picture within the West.
“China-EU cooperation can ignore these interruptions and ridiculous opinions as a result of they do not perceive why China is doing this for the EU and the remainder of the world. At first of the outbreak in China, which was probably the most troublesome interval for our nation, European international locations and neighbors like Japan, Russia, Pakistan and South Korea, in addition to Iran, supplied assist to us, and what we’re doing proper now could be returning the favor,” Li mentioned.