CHINA, THE EU AND FOREIGN POLICY

EU-CHINA SUMMIT HIGHLIGHTS FOREIGN-POLICY ISSUES

Peter Taberner

New Europe, February 21, 2012

Last week’s EU-China Summit provided a glance into China’s attitude to its foreign policy, with the views from the east taking a more assertive stance on issues surrounding Iran and Syria.

China incensed the western by vetoing a UN Security Council resolution to stop violence in Syria, and their main newspaper the People’s Daily, anorgan of the Communist Party, reiterated Beijing’s fear that other major powers are trying to stir up conflict with this comment in its 20 February edition.

"If Western countries continue to fully support Syria's opposition, then in the end a large-scale civil war will erupt and there will be no way to thus avoid the possibility of foreign armed intervention."

The Iran situation has also unravelled into a stalemate between east and west with Beijing not joining the EU in an embargo on buying Iranian oil set for 1 July, instead calling for talks over the Iranians’ desire to enrich its uranium for what Tehran claims to be for energy purposes only.

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