Status: 11/08/2022 3:27 p.m
According to diplomats, China has prevented the broadcast of a video speech by EU Council President Michel. The unpopular passages were apparently about Russia’s war against Ukraine.
There is new disagreement between China and the European Union: According to diplomats, the authorities of the People’s Republic did not show a pre-recorded critical opening speech by EU Council President Charles Michel at the major trade fair in Shanghai. The video was scheduled to be shown at the opening ceremony of the China International Import Expo (CIIE) last Friday.
The communist authorities wanted to “censor part of Charles Michel’s speech in advance,” a diplomat told the AFP news agency in Beijing. Michel wanted to sharply criticize “Russia’s illegal war against Ukraine”. He also wanted to urge China to do more to end the bloodshed in Ukraine. So far, China has consistently refused to criticize Russia’s war.
Dependence on China is viewed increasingly critically
The speech should also emphasize that Europe will learn “important lessons” from the war. Europe has been too dependent on Russia for fossil fuels, leading to a trade imbalance. In future, Europe wants to “avoid excessive dependencies” in its trade relations, said diplomats who knew the speech. “This also applies to our trade relations with China.”
The high level of dependence on the People’s Republic is viewed increasingly critically in the EU. According to the Dortmund chip manufacturer Elmos, the federal government recently prohibited the sale of wafer production to the subsidiary of a Chinese company.
Before that, the German government’s permission for the Chinese state shipping company Cosco to enter into an operating company at a terminal in the port of Hamburg had sparked discussions.
EU confirms canceled speech
The EU confirmed that Michel’s speech was not shown. “As requested by the Chinese authorities, we actually transmitted a pre-recorded message that was ultimately not shown,” said Michel’s spokesman, Barend Leyts. “We raised this through normal diplomatic channels.”
Neither the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs nor the co-organizers of the Expo wanted to comment on the process.
Other high-level officials who spoke at the ceremony after Chinese President Xi Jinping included the head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the director-general of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the presidents of Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Belarus, according to the fair’s official website. Belarusian ruler Alexander Lukashenko is a loyal ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin.