European Union (EU) and Chinese Leaders have met for their first summit in two years, with Brussels pressing Beijing for assurances that it will neither supply Russia with arms nor help Moscow circumvent the Western sanctions imposed over its full-scale invasion on Ukraine.

In uncommonly open language, EU Officials ahead of the meeting on Friday’s (April 1, 2022) Summit, cautioned that any help given to Russia would damage China’s international reputation and as well, jeopardise relations with its biggest trade partners, precisely Europe and the United States.

The Presidents of the European Commission and European Council, Ursula von der Leyen and Charles Michel, respectively, along with EU Foreign Policy Chief, Josep Borrell, held virtual talks with Chinese Premier (informally known as the Prime Minister), Li Keqiang. They are due later to speak with President Xi Jinping.

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The ‘Million-dollar Question’

An EU Official, on Friday, April 1, 2022, intimated that China’s stance towards Russia was the “million-dollar question”. Another pointed out that more than a quarter of China’s global trade was with the Bloc and the United States last year (2021), against just 2.4 percent with Russia.

“Do we prolong this war or do we work together to end this war? That is the essential question for the summit.”
An EU Official said

Chinese Foreign Minister, Wang Yi, reiterated China’s call for peace talks earlier this week, adding that the legitimate concerns of all sides should be accommodated. An expert on European-related matters, at Beijing’s Renmin University, Wang Yiwei, disclosed that both China and the EU want the war to end.

“I imagine China would want to use this summit to discuss with the EU how to create the conditions acceptable to Putin for him to climb down from his current position.”
Wang Yiwei – An expert on European-related matters, at Beijing’s Renmin University

Reports have suggested that China itself has concerns that European countries are taking harder-line Foreign Policy cues from the United States and as a result, called for the EU to “exclude external interference” from its relations with China. But unfortunately, relations were already strained prior to the Ukraine war.

A Systemic rival

The EU abruptly switched in 2019 from soft diplomatic language to call China a systemic rival. However, the EU sees China as a potential partner in fighting climate change and the pandemic. Brussels and Beijing concluded an investment agreement at the end of 2020, designed to settle some EU concerns about reciprocal market access. However, it is now on hold after Brussels’ sanctions against Chinese Officials over alleged human rights abuses in the Xinjiang Region prompted Beijing to blacklist EU individuals and entities.

China has since also suspended imports from Lithuania (one of the three countries, which are members of NATO, the European Union, the eurozone, and the OECD), after the Baltic EU Nation allowed Taiwan to open a de facto embassy in its capital (Vilnius), angering Beijing which regards the democratically ruled Island as its own territory.

China’s relationship with the West

In March 2022, after US Officials said Russia asked China for military assistance, US President, Joe Biden, in a video call with Xi cautioned of “consequences” if China should provide material support.

The call came weeks after Russia’s invasion on Ukraine. At the early stages of the war, China refused to condemn Russian President, Vladimir Putin, for the war and the resulting humanitarian crisis. Chinese Diplomats and State Media outlets also repeated a Russian conspiracy theory that the United States is financing biological weapon creation in Ukraine. Mr. Biden, during the call, laid out sanctions and other efforts that are coordinated with allies to punish Russia. Xi criticized the sanctions, saying they “would only make people suffer.”