State-run China Daily on Wednesday censored an article cosigned by the European Union (EU) ambassador to China, Nicolas Chapuis, and the ambassadors of 27 EU member states.
The op-ed was blacklisted by China even though the EU agreed to cut a sentence that offended the Chinese Foreign Ministry from the English-language version of the piece, an act of self-censorship that drew sharp criticism from across the Western world without appeasing the Chinese.
The article, which had the upbeat title “EU-China Ties Vital Amid Global Crisis,” was written in the style of an open letter and intended as a bit of diplomatic outreach to Communist China on the 45th anniversary of its establishment of formal relations with the EU.
A sample from the English-language version reveals a celebration of Euro-Chinese relations that could not be much more complimentary to the brutal regime in Beijing, laced with fervent hopes that business as usual can resume once these “true partners” finish helping each other deal with that pesky pandemic:
We have come a very long way since 1975. At that time, the EU was made up of just nine member states. China was only beginning to open up and had yet to undergo its formidable economic transformation. Trade between our two sides was miniscule; now, in normal times, the EU and China engage in 1.8 billion euros of trade per day with each other.
We cooperate in more areas than ever before, including political, economic, financial, scientific, educational and cultural. We both have obvious shared interests in the peaceful resolution of global conflicts, climate change mitigation, sustainable development, food and energy security, nuclear non-proliferation and social justice. And we share a common aspiration to bring our relationship to an even more productive level in the years to come, as connectivity increases between Europe and Asia. While we have our differences, notably on human rights, our partnership has become mature enough to allow frank discussion on these issues. We both see merits in upholding and defending multilateralism, with the United Nations and World Trade Organization at its core.
As recently as mid-January, the year 2020 had been hailed as a crucial one for EU-China relations, with numerous high-level meetings aimed at deepening EU-China cooperation. But the outbreak of the coronavirus has meant that our pre-existing plans have been temporarily side-tracked as both the EU and China are fully mobilized to tackle what has now become a challenge of truly global proportions. However, we are currently rescheduling the annual EU-China summit, which was originally due to take place in Beijing in March, and plans for a special summit of leaders of EU Member States and China in Leipzig in September are on track.
The EU ambassadors rhapsodized about how the pandemic “will reshape our world” but hoped it would be shaped in a way mutually beneficial to their nations and Communist China. The latter paragraphs celebrated all the ways Europe and China have helped each other during the crisis and then hoped they could “cooperate to make this a green recovery,” which is grimly amusing considering how much carbon China pumps into the atmosphere and how little Beijing cares about any European or American’s opinion of its practices.
Politico on Wednesday characterized the article as part of the EU’s “pivot to China,” a signal that European capitals are ready to take China’s side instead of America’s in the post-pandemic global power struggle, almost a continental letter of surrender to Beijing’s political narrative of the coronavirus. It still was not good enough for the tyrants Europe is trying so desperately to flatter and appease because the original draft dared to obliquely mention where the virus came from.
The “offending” line read, “But the outbreak of the coronavirus in China, and its subsequent spread to the rest of the world over the past three months, has meant that our pre-existing plans have been temporarily side-tracked.”
That was enough to get China Daily to refuse to publish the article in Chinese, as it has promised the EU ambassadors it would. The EU decided to allow Chinese censors to remove the line from the English-language publication of the piece, although they grumbled impotently about it.
From the South China Morning Post on Thursday:
“The EU delegation to China was informed that the publication could only take place with the agreement of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs,” Virginie Battu-Henriksson, EU spokeswoman on foreign affairs, said in an emailed reply.
“The EU delegation to China made known its concerns to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in no uncertain terms, both on the process and on the request to remove part of a sentence related to the origins and spread of coronavirus to allow publication,” Battu-Henriksson said.
The EU diplomats decided to proceed with the publication “with considerable reluctance”, she said, so that the article, titled “EU-China ties vital amid global crisis”, could coincide with the 45th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the EU and China.
The Chinese responded by taunting the Europeans and the World Health Organization (W.H.O.) that they will never be allowed to investigate the true origins of the virus, and made it clear that anything less than full endorsement of Beijing’s propaganda will be dismissed as “politicizing” the pandemic:
The ambassador to United Nations Geneva, Chen Xu, told reporters on Wednesday that China will not invite international experts to investigate the source of Covid-19 until the “final victory” against the virus has been secured.
China’s priority is first beating the pandemic – and countering the “absurd and ridiculous” politicization of the new coronavirus, Chen said.
The World Health Organisation says it is waiting on an invitation from China to take part in its investigations into the animal origins of the virus, first reported in the city of Wuhan in December.
Asked when the WHO could expect an invitation, Chen replied: “The top priority, for the time being, is to focus on the fight against the pandemic until we win the final victory.”
China Daily then offered the Europeans a little pat on the head for at least trying to play ball with the CCP:
Since the start of the outbreak, the pandemic has brought China and Europe closer together, which has been demonstrated by the mutual support and aid between China and the EU and its members.
President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang have been in contact with European leaders－including European Council President Charles Michel, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron－on the outbreak as well as bilateral and international issues.
A report titled “Covid-19 in Europe-China Relations” released on April 29 by the European Think Tank Network on China said the COVID-19 crisis was the first time that China has figured so prominently in an issue of immediate critical importance to European people and governments.
“The way that relations with China evolve over the course of the crisis will likely have a lasting effect on the Europe-China relationship,” said the report.
China and the EU both support and uphold multilateralism in addressing global challenges, and through various dialogue mechanisms. They are stepping up cooperation on diagnostics, treatment, pharmaceutical and vaccine development, as well as regular exchanges of information and expertise.
By Thursday, EU Ambassador Chapuis was sufficiently irked to complain about Chinese (and Russian) efforts to spread disinformation in Europe and meddle in European politics.
“We are documenting this and we think it should be stopped,” he said.
The Financial Times noted that it has exposed videos produced by Chinese state media that were deceptively edited to make it “appear that Italians on their balconies were applauding the Chinese national anthem,” and recalled that China was accused in April of pressuring the EU to “tone down a report on disinformation.”
All of which was already known to EU ambassadors when they decided to write their obsequious open letter to the Chinese Communist regime and were surprised to discover they are no longer permitted to mention which country the coronavirus came from if they want their “partnership” with it to flourish.
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