A report by Anbound, a Chinese institution specializing in international relations, warns that the new coronavirus pandemic “threatens to deteriorate” China’s geopolitical relations and argues that Beijing should “improve the management of differences” and “exchange more information”.
Founded in 1993 in Beijing, Anbound is one of the largest research units in China specializing in geopolitics and international relations, providing advice in the areas of strategic forecasting, political solutions and risk analysis.
“In order to improve the state of geopolitical relations and relieve some pressure, China needs to carry out more information exchanges, better manage differences and provide greater practical support to the international community”, says the document to which the Lusa agency had access.
In the report, Anbound recalls that it is “quite obvious” that the relationship between China and the West is deteriorating, “especially with the United States”.
“The tension between China and the United States and many European countries is increasing,” he notes.
Altogether, the new coronavirus pandemic, which originated in the city of Wuhan, in central China, last December, has already killed more than 225,000 in the United States and Europe, and threatens to cause the biggest economic recession since World War II. .
The pandemic came at a time of renewed tensions between Beijing and Washington. Since Donald Trump’s arrival at the White House, the United States has come to define China as the “main threat”, betting on a strategy to contain Chinese ambitions that has already resulted in a commercial and technological war.
Europe, on the other hand, has tried to balance relations with Beijing, which it considers simultaneously a “rival” that “promotes alternative models of governance”, an “economic competitor in the technological leadership race”, but also a “partner” in areas such as changes climate change or multilateralism.
The European Union (EU) and China had prepared two summits for this year, aimed at developing a new strategic partnership, but the pandemic appears to be complicating the relationship, with several European leaders publicly expressing dissatisfaction with Beijing.
At issue is, for example, the discrepancy between the lethality rate of the virus, which has turned out to be more than double in several European countries than the figures presented by China suggest.
The Chinese regime, never receptive to outside criticism and fearing damage to domestic control, has responded aggressively, combining health care campaigns with nationalist rhetoric, while demanding displays of gratitude and making economic threats.
FALSE STEPS
“China was overly aggressive”, agrees ecologist MEP Reinhard Bütikofer
. “If he had acted modestly, he could have been well received (…), instead, he spread lies about the origin of the virus and boasted excessively about the supply of medical equipment that, in some cases, turned out to be defective”, he says .
The result has been a growing distrust of China in Europe, which has intensified in recent years.
Sweden, for example, which was the first western country to establish diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic of China in 1950, ordered the closure of the last Confucius Institute in the country last week, following diplomatic disputes with Beijing over the case. by Gui Minhai, a 54-year-old Swedish publisher and bookseller from China, who sold critical Chinese works in Hong Kong and was sentenced to 10 years in prison in China.
The Confucius Institute is an organization sponsored by Beijing to ensure the teaching of the Chinese language and culture, and is present in universities around the world, but is seen as part of the Chinese regime’s propaganda and influence activities.
France, the Netherlands and England were other countries where disagreements with Beijing have become more pronounced in recent times, either because of behavior considered inappropriate by diplomatic representations, for situations involving Taiwan or for announcing that they are going to ask “difficult questions” to Chinese authorities about the origins of the new coronavirus responsible for covid-19.
Germany, the United Kingdom and other European countries have also joined Australia and the United States in calling for independent research into the origin of the new coronavirus.
Recognizing that, “although China has the right to refuse any kind of requests for an investigation”, Anbound warns that this stance “is not a viable long-term solution”.
“In the face of global issues, China cannot afford to ignore the perception that the world has about the country, nor can it refuse to cooperate and exchange information with other countries,” the report reads.
“We are certain that the negativity will continue to intensify, which means that if China does not respond adequately, geopolitical relations will have a major impact in the future,” he warns.