Europe is ready for an economic brawl with China
Poland’s move to derail Chinese exports highlights how to stop Beijing’s support for Russia’s illegal war
Europe is an economic and military heavyweight. But when it climbs into the geopolitical ring, the European Union and close partners such as the United Kingdom move at glacier-like speed. Against big-hitting rivals China and Russia, they look outmatched.
Nothing could be further from the truth. The 27-member EU and its close neighbors can flex GDP biceps of around US$23 trillion, packing a whopping punch. Last year, China’s economy was $18.27 trillion, while Russia’s was an anemic $2.17 trillion.
Yet there is more than just these naked World Bank figures. There is a matter of survival after Russian President Vladimir Putin launched an illegal invasion of Ukraine, which has dragged on into a fourth year and is backed by Beijing.
The war zone has extended to EU border states with “airspace violations in Estonia, Poland, and Romania” by Russia’s air force. All three nations are part of NATO, which warned Moscow this week it would use all necessary measures to “deter threats.”
But, perhaps, Warsaw came up with the ideal response, targeting Beijing’s “no limits” partnership with the Kremlin and shutting down the China-Europe Railway Express. The “flagship project” is a $29-billion-a-year trade artery between China and the EU.
China has provided Russia with an economic lifeline.
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Off the rails:
- The crucial rail link was suspended after Poland closed its borders with Belarus on September 12, with more than 130 trains grinding to a halt.
- Warsaw cited security concerns about the Russia-Belarus military exercises, which coincided with Russian drones piercing Polish airspace.
Delve deeper: Plans are now underway to open the border and rail links tomorrow. But Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has threatened to close them again “if tensions” continue to rise with Russia.
What they are saying: “I’m quite sure [the United States] is more than happy to see the routes closed,” Piotr Krawczyk, the former head of Poland’s Foreign Intelligence Agency, told Politico last week.
Between the lines: “[Washington has] been pressuring [the EU] to introduce additional tariffs on [Beijing] over Russian oil and gas exports to China,” he said.
Big picture: Back in May, there was mounting pressure on Brussels to use its economic muscles to inflict pain on Beijing, and to make it pay for openly supporting Moscow.
Bottom line: Eva Seiwert, at the Mercator Institute for China Studies or MERICS, called on the world’s largest trading bloc “to get tough on China” in a commentary.
China Factor comment: Earlier, a major report underlined Beijing’s duplicity when it revealed that China was “providing Russia with an economic lifeline.” Surely, it is time for Europe to wake up and come out slugging, metaphorically speaking.