December 18th, 2008

For China, France Is The EU Weak Point (Part 2)

I have reported in a previous post the strong reaction of a French Columnist to the EU-China summit cancellation. Some of you could admit it is a normal reaction, because the guy is a French “hurt in his feelings”… Have a look here at what John Pomfret from The Washington Post says about this.

There is still something of the petulant 3-year-old here, brazenly pursuing something that is decidedly not in her [China] interests. It illustrates the fact that China’s foreign policy, its strategy and its world view are anything but mature.

First, it’s not like China doesn’t need friends right now. It’s economy is in crisis. Over the weekend President Hu Jintao told a gathering of Communist Party members that the global crisis could undermine the country’s economy and threaten the party’s capacity to rule China. Europe is China’s largest market. But the Europeans are restless. European businesses want to know why they sell more stuff to Switzerland than to China. Cancel a summit and these questions will only grow louder.

So why did Hu really blow off Sarko, Pomfret asks?

The stated Chinese reason in this case bears scrutiny because of its brazen honesty. According to wire service reports, Qin Gang, a spokesman at the China’s foreign ministry, acknowledged to reporters that France was being held to a higher standard than, say, the United States, whose leaders routinely huddle with the Dalai Lama and barely suffer a slap on the wrist.

Chinese tea-leaf readers have focused on another reason: They’ve wheeled out the old bogeyman of Chinese political calculus, claiming that unidentified “hard-liners” were behind the cancellation. That’s rich.

The reality is that China just screwed this one up.

I am sure Sarkozy will feel less lonely after this…

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