Borrell: EU wants to re-calibrate position on China

European Union foreign ministers have agreed on the need to "re-calibrate" Europe's position on China, reducing dependencies and coaxing Beijing to take a tougher stance on Russia's war in Ukraine.

At a meeting hosted by Sweden on Friday, European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell presented the bloc's foreign ministers with a paper outlining the need to "define" and "re-calibrate our position towards China".

"They agree on the basic lines of this re-calibration of our strategy with China considering the recent domestic evolution in China and its foreign policy trajectories," Borrell said, adding that the EU was sticking to its existing vision of China as simultaneously a partner, competitor and rival.

He stressed it remained important to "engage" with Beijing at the same time as looking to cut the EU's reliance in the face of fundamentally different values and economic systems. But he said the adjusted policy was not aimed at "de-coupling" Europe from the world's second biggest economy, but to "balance" the relationship.

Most pressing among the points of contention is China's refusal to condemn its close ally Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, or to press Moscow to stop its attack.

"European Union-China relations will not develop normally if China doesn't push Russia to withdraw from Ukraine" Borrell said.

Possible EU sanctions

Brussels has enraged Beijing by proposing to restrict exports of sensitive tech to eight Chinese firms suspected of shipping it on to Russia.

On a European tour this week, Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang warned that Beijing would make a "necessary response" if the EU moved ahead with any sanctions.

In Berlin, Qin clashed over Ukraine with German counterpart Annalena Baerbock, who insisted China's proclaimed "neutrality means taking the side of the aggressor".

On Friday, Baerbock stressed that the proposal was "not about economic sanctions" but about preventing "war materials being delivered to Russia by other states."

US vs China

On a trip to China last month, French President Emmanuel Macron opened up EU fissures by saying Europe should not automatically follow US policy on Taiwan and should avoid "crises that aren't ours".

That stirred fierce criticism from some other European allies, which see the United States as a security guarantor against Russia.

Friday's meeting of foreign ministers in Stockholm was not meant to reach any concrete conclusions and the debate on China will continue at a leaders' summit in June.

The EU ministers will follow up their China discussion with a meeting on Saturday with counterparts from the Asia-Pacific region.