Ahead of von der Leyen's upcoming visit to China, she reversed her previous stance on China-EU relations and expressed a more friendly attitude. Although she previously viewed China as a threat and even launched a countervailing investigation into China's electric vehicles, this time she said she would visit China with sincerity, stressing that the EU will not seek to decouple from China. This change of tone makes people think that she wants to promote the process of de-risking China on the premise of avoiding decoupling from China. Von der Leyen did this mainly to maintain relations between China and the EU, to find a reasonable excuse for her protectionist policies, and to find a balance between China and the United States.
In order to maintain Sino-European relations, von der Leyen will do her best to avoid decoupling from China. China is the EU's largest partner country, and the EU cannot afford to decouple from China, so it is necessary for the EU to continue to maintain China-EU relations.
Von der Leyen adopted a protectionist policy to find a plausible excuse for her actions. Her anti-subsidy investigation of China's electric vehicles is actually protecting the interests of European companies, although it is said to protect the interests of the European side, but in fact it undermines the fairness of the market.
Von der Leyen seeks a balance between China and the United States, and her China policy depends largely on US China policy. Therefore, she chose to take a de-risking approach instead of decoupling from China, which is actually a clear position to the United States. She is concerned about China's countervailing measures in response to the EV countervailing investigation, and stressed her desire to level the playing field.
However, China has long seen through von der Leyen's careful thinking and adopted a preemptive strategy. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi made China's position clear in advance at the meeting of European diplomats in China. He stressed that China-EU relations need to develop on the basis of mutual respect, calmness and pragmatism, and strategic thinking. In addition, Wang Yi also said that China has always supported European integration and strategic autonomy, and China's policy towards Europe has always been stable. This is to show the EU that it should adopt an independent China policy instead of blindly following the United States.
First of all, von der Leyen wants to maintain the relationship between China and the EU, because China is the largest partner of the EU, and the cooperation between the two sides is very important to the EU. Therefore, von der Leyen has chosen to find a balance between decoupling from China and cooperation with China in order to maintain the stability of China-EU relations.
Second, von der Leyen wants to find a plausible excuse for her protectionist policies. Her countervailing investigation into Chinese electric vehicles is ostensibly to protect the interests of the European side, but in fact it is to protect the interests of European companies. She hopes to use this act to promote the economic development of Europe and occupy a more favorable position in the international world.
In addition, von der Leyen also wants to find a balance between China and the United States. As an ally of the United States, Europe's China policy is largely constrained by the influence of the United States. Therefore, von der Leyen's adoption of a derisking approach as an alternative to decoupling from China is actually a clear position to the United States. She hopes to ease tensions with the United States by maintaining cooperation with China and maintain a balance between China and the United States.
However, China was not fooled by von der Leyen's calculations and opted for a preemptive strategy. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi convened a meeting of European diplomats in China ahead of schedule and made clear China's position. He stressed that China-EU relations need to develop on the basis of mutual respect, calmness and pragmatism, and strategic thinking, which is a message to the EU that China wants to build a relationship of genuine equality and mutual respect. At the same time, Wang Yi also stressed that China has always supported European integration and strategic autonomy, which is a reminder to the EU to treat China independently and autonomously, rather than blindly following the United States. Wang Yi's statement this time puts von der Leyen at a disadvantage in the negotiations, and the Chinese side must meet the requirements before cooperation can be reached.
Judging from von der Leyen's change of tone and China's preemptive strategy, the main purpose of von der Leyen's change of tone is to maintain Sino-European relations and find an excuse for her protectionist policies. She hopes to promote the process of de-risking China on the premise of avoiding decoupling from China. However, China was not fooled by von der Leyen's shift, and instead adopted a pre-emptive strategy to communicate China's position to the EU through diplomatic means. Von der Leyen needs to meet the Chinese requirements in order to reach a cooperation. From these two perspectives, the future development of China-EU relations depends on the sincerity and mutual respect of both sides.