On April 18, 2023, the Institute for Foreign Affairs and Trade (IFAT) invited East Asia expert Mario Esteban to present his views on the topic at its event “Searching for an Independent European China Strategy”. The guest, a Senior Analyst at the Elcano Royal Institute and Senior Lecturer at the Centre for East Asian Studies of the Autonomous University of Madrid, has previously worked as an external expert for the European Commission, the European Parliament and the Spanish Ministry of Defence. His research is focused on the international relations of East Asia, EU-East Asia Relations and the domestic and international politics of China. The event was moderated by Viktor Eszterhai, Senior China Research Fellow at IFAT.
Mario Esteban began by addressing how realistic it is to speak of an independent European policy toward China in the current international context. The growing great power competition between the United States and China and the war between Russia and Ukraine have led many to believe that an independent European policy on China is unnecessary. Mario Esteban explained why such a policy would be difficult to achieve, if at all: in part because EU member states have different goals and different approaches to China. However, a unified European voice is a necessary condition for a common strategy, Esteban said. Mario Esteban also answered the question of whether the role that Western countries attribute to China has changed since the Trump era. He also asked how an independent European policy toward China would affect relations with the United States. He explained the disadvantages and advantages of taking political sides with the United States. The wide-ranging discussion provided the audience with many explanations, but the expert stressed that as long as there is no consensus in the EU on whether to move in a common direction on this issue at all, the development of a common strategy and a stand-alone European policy on China will remain in limbo on the international stage.
Photos by Hungarian Institute of International Affairs (HIIA)