The European Union has accused China – along with Russia – of trying to “reshape the global order in line with their interests” and “fostering a return to a sphere-of-influence logic”, in an explosive new position paper that contains some of the bloc’s strongest ever official criticism of Beijing.
The paper, which was adopted by the EU’s 27 foreign ministers on Monday without any announcement, accuses Beijing of being both a “key enabler” and “crucial enabler” of Russia’s war on Ukraine, language previously used by Nato.
In stark terms, the paper casts Russia and China as the two principal revisionist powers challenging European security and the international rules-based order.
“At the centre of this transformation lies the determination of some powers, Russia and China foremost among them, to establish regional dominance and reshape the global order in line with their interests, fostering a return to a sphere-of-influence logic,” read the document, which was written by the EU’s External Action Service – its de facto foreign office – as guidance for the bloc’s first security strategy, expected later this year.
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This report comes despite a Financial Times article on Wednesday saying the bloc allowed Ukraine to spend €6bn in EU funds to buy drone components from China, showing the tension between the EU’s efforts to hold Beijing to account and Kyiv’s need for Chinese hardware.