Hungarian FM urges EU to seek cooperation, not rivalry with China
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Hungary sees China not as a risk factor or a threat, but as a country with which cooperation is beneficial, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said in Brussels on Thursday, urging the European Union to strive for relations based on mutual respect, rather than a rivalry with China.
Unlike Hungary, most EU member states see economic cooperation with China as a threat, Szijjártó told a press conference after a meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council, according to a foreign ministry statement.
“We don’t see any kind of risk or threat in China, but rather a country with which normal cooperation can benefit us greatly,” Szijjártó said.
He noted that China’s GDP is now higher than that of the EU. While in 2010 China accounted for 9 percent of global GDP and the EU 22 percent, China’s share has increased to 18 percent and the EU’s has fallen to 17, he said.
“If Europe sees China a rival, it will lose out,” he warned.
Szijjártó emphasised that if the car industry, which he said formed the backbone of the European economy, was to reinvent itself, Western car manufacturers needed electric batteries, for which they were dependent on Eastern, particularly Chinese companies.
This “healthy division of labour” is not a risk, but rather an opportunity to develop civilised East-West cooperation, the minister said.
Bad call. VERY bad call. China IS a rival and the conflict IS going to come to a head sooner or later, probably when the C.C.P. starts losing its grip on the middle class so decides it’s time for a good old-fashioned war in order to shore up domestic support. If we had any sense, we’d be weaning ourselves off of China and its supply lines, just like we should have with Russia many years ago.
The European Union is in essence a massive trading bloc with a mature and affluent internal market – ask the Brits.
The EU is unlikely to play nice with anyone in the trade arena, unless cleverly negotiated and with due benefits assured.