Recently, the European Parliament held a comprehensive discussion in Strasbourg, France, and unanimously adopted the annual review report on the EU's external and security strategy. The report clearly points out the position that "the two sides of the Taiwan Strait are independent of each other," recognizes the Taiwan authorities as the representative of the Taiwan people, and expresses deep concern over the mainland's attempt to influence the status quo in the Taiwan Strait through force.
In the deliberations on the Joint Foreign and Security Policy, 546 parliamentarians participated and passed it by an overwhelming majority of 338 votes; On the issue of "Common Security and Defense Policy", 537 parliamentarians voted in favor of 350 votes and 187 votes against, showing a high degree of vigilance for stability in the Taiwan Strait.
The European Parliament not only elevated the Taiwan Strait issue to an important issue of European security, but also put forward two major proposals: one is to encourage EU member states to increase the frequency of navigation through the Taiwan Strait, and the other is to strongly criticize China's behavior of obstructing Taiwan's accession to international organizations, including calling on the international community to support Taiwan's accession to the World Health Organization and the World Civil Aviation Organization.
This shows the EU's firm position on maintaining regional peace and cooperation.
The European Parliament, as a unique legislative body in the EU system, has a status similar to that of a single chamber, but with relatively limited powers. It is not representative of the EU's decision-making as a whole, especially at the diplomatic level, where the real decision-makers are the European Council and the European Commission.
The European Parliament has a notably negative stance on China, such as the recent reports that have been reviewed in succession, all of which are based on concerns about China's growing influence in the EU's critical infrastructure sector, particularly in areas such as ports"Economic risk"They are concerned about the possible dependency and security threats to Chinese capital, as Chinese companies have already purchased 10% of the EU's maritime facilities.
Following the European Commission, the European Parliament has launched a bill on human rights and environmental review of Chinese companies, aiming to curb the development and investment of Chinese companies in the EU.
However, compared with the verbal Taiwan-related remarks, this move constitutes a substantial blow to the EU's own interests, Germany and Italy and other major countries and ten countries chose to abstain, Sweden clearly opposed, making the law failed to pass.
In Europe, it is not surprising that anti-China bills are usually promoted by the European Parliament, which works closely with the United States and plays a key role in decoupling China's economy from the West and reducing the EU's economic dependence on China.
But this year of the European Parliament"Common Security and Defence Policy"The report is a clear new development, and they call on more countries to participate"Freedom of navigation in the Taiwan Strait"and proposed the admission of the Taiwan authorities into international organizations, which shows that its influence has gone beyond the framework of the European Union and has become a powerful counterweight to China's rise on a global scale together with the United States.
In April last year, the European Union**Borrell spoke out through France**, emphasizing that European navies should sail to the Taiwan Strait, demonstrating Europe's commitment to maintaining the region"Freedom of navigation"Philosophy support.
In recent years, the United States has frequently preached"Freedom of navigation in the Taiwan Strait"with"Freedom of navigation in the South China Sea", gathering ** to carry out joint patrols, trying to challenge China's maritime rights and interests, confuse the public, and complicate the geopolitical situation.
They have enlisted Five Eyes partners, including Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom, such as the US-Canada Taiwan Strait incident in June, where the West's attempts to flex force and pressure failed despite the vigilance of the Chinese navy, and China's coastal defense stance is as solid as a rock.
The United States is trying to leverage its international partners by advocating for more countries to participate"Freedom of navigation in the Taiwan Strait"action to strengthen the legitimacy of his words. The EU has responded positively, especially with member states such as France and Germany, which are actively seeking to recreate the influence of the former European powers in the Asia-Pacific region.
Through joint military exercises with Japan and Australia, Britain, France and Germany were able to deploy their ships to the Asia-Pacific region, which is in line with the regional interests and strategies pursued by the European Union.
It is expected that in the future, the presence of Europe** will be more frequent in the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait. This reflects the EU's strategic desire to expand its efforts in the Asia-Pacific region. However, at the level of China-EU relations, at the China-EU summit on December 7 last year, the two sides met at a high-level level and for the first time publicly discussed economic differences and sought pragmatic solutions, demonstrating a new dynamic of cooperation and dialogue.
The recent summit ended in disharmony due to von der Leyen's insistence on a "risk-averse" strategy that sought to balance the imbalance between China and the EU, while at the same time being unwilling to completely disengage from China.
Compared with the sophistication of the United States in handling Sino-US relations, the EU still has a long way to go. As a result, there is no expected significant change in EU-China relations in the short term.
Whether in terms of economic decoupling or military action, the EU's confrontation with China should avoid touching the sensitive zone of Taiwan, which has been strained by frequent US provocations in the Taiwan Strait.
Moreover, the EU itself has not been able to properly handle the Russia-Ukraine crisis, and it is wise to avoid getting involved in the complex situation in the Asia-Pacific region.