RT.com
01 Apr 2023, 10:17 GMT+10
Von der Leyen's speech was contradictory and misleading, said Beijing's envoy to the EU
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen's speech ahead of her visit to China was incoherent, contradictory, and misinterpreted Beijing's policies and positions, Chinese ambassador to the EU Fu Cong said on Friday.
"I was a little bit disappointed," Fu told the outlet CGTN. "That speech contained a lot of misrepresentation and misinterpretation of Chinese policies and Chinese positions. And I would say that whoever wrote that speech for President von der Leyen does not really understand China, or deliberately distorted Chinese positions."
Von der Leyen gave off the impression of realizing the importance of engaging with China on the one hand, but being "fearful of criticism, especially from hardliners in Europe and maybe even from the US," on the other, Fu added. Reading the speech it seems "as if two people are quarreling with each other, so there is no coherence."
"We do hope that in her visit to China and in her dialogue with the Chinese leaders, she will be able to understand China better," the ambassador concluded.
Von der Leyen is scheduled to accompany French President Emmanuel Macron to Beijing next week, where they are expected to meet with President Xi Jinping.
Speaking at the European Policy Center on Thursday, Von der Leyen said the EU needed to "stress-test" and "de-risk" its relations with Beijing, both political and economic, and argued that a "decoupling" from China was neither a viable strategy nor in the bloc's interest. On the other hand, she argued Brussels needed to be "bolder" in its approach to China, which she described as becoming "more repressive at home and more assertive abroad."
Von der Leyen also warned that the "determining factor for EU-China relations going forward" will be how Beijing "continues to interact with [Russian President Vladimir] Putin's war," meaning the conflict in Ukraine.
China has insisted on neutrality in the conflict, condemned the unilateral Western sanctions as illegitimate, and proposed a peace plan. The EU has fully endorsed the government in Kiev and supplied it with billions of euros worth of weapons, ammunition, training and other equipment.
Wang Luton, the director for European affairs at the Chinese Foreign Ministry, also commented on von der Leyen's remarks. He tweeted on his personal account that the EU "talks a lot about de-risking recently," but is actually creating risk by "linking trade with ideology and national security and creating bloc confrontation."
(RT.com)
Get a daily dose of Herald Globe news through our daily email, its complimentary and keeps you fully up to date with world and business news as well.
Publish news of your business, community or sports group, personnel appointments, major event and more by submitting a news release to Herald Globe.
More InformationWASHINGTON D.C.: Amtrak CEO Stephen Gardner said this week that despite projected losses of $800 million for the current budget ...
WASHINGTON D.C.: The Biden administration has announced that it is providing grants worth $570 million to eliminate many dangerous railroad ...
PARIS, France: According to a report by BFM TV, Britain's King Charles is considering a visit to France in September, ...
WASHINGTON D.C.: The Federal Aviation Administration has said that a drone sighting disrupted some flights at Pittsburgh International Airport this ...
PORTLAND, Oregon: A federal trial has begun in Portland, Oregon examining the constitutionality of a stringent gun control law approved ...
PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania: Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney and members of the city's historical commission have been sued by a group which ...
Jordan Montgomery threw six scoreless innings to earn his first victory since April 8 as the St. Louis Cardinals defeated ...
Luis Robert Jr. delivered a walk-off single in the ninth inning for the Chicago White Sox, who continued surging with ...
Orlando Arcia provided the dramatics for the second straight night, this time driving in the go-ahead run in the eighth ...
Michael A. Taylor hit a sacrifice fly in the 10th inning to go with his two-run homer in the fifth ...
Kyle Schwarber hit a game-ending home run with two outs in the ninth inning as the Philadelphia Phillies extended their ...
Magic Gaming rolled to a sweep in the conference quarterfinals of the NBA 2K League's 5v5 The Tipoff event on ...