China sees EU as mere pawn in global game

FT ^ | 04/23/09 | Tony Barber

[TigerLikesRooster]

China sees EU as mere pawn in global game

By Tony Barber in Brussels

Published: April 23 2009 03:00 | Last updated: April 23 2009 03:00

Viewed from Brussels, China's importance to the world's international security and economic systems has never been greater. Viewed from Beijing, the European Union's importance has rarely been smaller.

This imbalance will be on display in Prague on May 20, when EU and Chinese leaders get together for a summit. The meeting should have been held last December, but in an imperious gesture the Chinese cancelled it after Nicolas Sarkozy, France's president, showed "disrespect" by arranging talks with the Dalai Lama, Tibet's exiled spiritual leader.

For the Europeans, it is something of a relief that the Chinese plan to show up in Prague. For the Chinese, it is something of an irrelevance that the summit is happening at all.

China once seemed to take the EU as an institution more seriously, largely because of its apparent potential as a counter-balance to US global hegemony.

[TigerLikesRooster]

EU wanted to use China as a pawn to counter U.S. Now it is the other way around. EU always thinks that it is more important than it actually is.

[bill1952]

I've been saying this for some time now although few in the EU are listening - and Hussein is taking us right down that road

denial is the most predictable of all human response

[EAGLE7]

China is not nor has ever been our friend. They have been working to undermine the U.S. and weaken our alliances for many years and they are succeeding. They have us by the gonads economically and will soon surpass us militarily. Those arrogant little shits try to tell US and our allies who we can meet with now. What will they demand when those red bastards when they are stronger than us?

[TigerLikesRooster]

China wants the world to submit to it eventually. All those smart folks in D.C. and Wall St. scoffed at the idea. The prospect of quick profit and the impatience with the pace of globalization blinded many decision makers.

They all ignored the age-old basic truth. Now they are paying for it.

All they saw from China was a billion cheap labor, who will turn into a billion consumer later. Later, some dim-witted Christians wanted to cut a deal with Chicom in their blind dream for a billion new Christian worshipers.

China has been good at selling Chinese dream. It is not about downtrodden people making new life in China. It is about wealthy or powerful people who want to make a lot out of China. China presented itself as handy exploitable resources, and these idiots bought it 100%. Now they have to be responsible for their stupidity.

[Niuhuru]

Exactly. These stupid Euros took the Chinese at face value and ever since they took the ‘noble savage’ view of the Chinese it’s been downhill for the West since.

They have forgotten that the Chinese have a five thousand year old culture and they are used to waiting and biding their time while smiling at the people who spit in their face.

The Chinese look at things from the perspective of ten to twenty years, our idiot politicos look at the next paycheck. The West is getting worked up over gay marriage and the environment while the Chinese are ferociously protecting their country by building their military nonstop and making sure nothing jeapordizes their economy.

While we drug our potential scientists the Chinese are busy recruiting like mad from the peasantry and making sure their students have the best education possible. They take for granted that the world is unfair and don’t try to change it, just work around it. They don’t care about gays and make sure that anyone who wants to start a riot thinks twice.

They are getting it together while our stupid politicians still act like fratboys and our celebs become a new branch of government.

I highly doubt my future husband (he just doesn’t know it:))
Jet Li and Jackie Chan (concubine, hehe:)) tell the Chinese government how to run its affairs and publicly meet with other leaders who are in conflict with the government’s policy.

[TigerLikesRooster]

noble savage

Modern-day noble savage: Bin Laden, Ahmadinejad, Hamas, Hizbollah, Talibans, Hugo Chavez, and Chicoms

[dennisw]

EU has zero military capability this is why the ChiComs treat them as a joke. EU has economic power and so do we. But our military power makes China cautious. Or it used to until we got a Kenyan president. Can you imagine China being run by a Kenyan?

[TigerLikesRooster]

Can you imagine China being run by a Kenyan?

If it were, he would be poisoned to death by now.:-)

[TigerLikesRooster]

Since millions were slaughtered in the Western Front in WWI, and the whole continent was leveled in WWII, they have developed the mistaken idea that they can talk to death any serious geopolitical crisis.

The whole continent is now run by muddle-headed humanity scholars. So-called public intellectuals, e.g., philosophers, writers, literary critics, and disciples of Frankfurt School-type social sciences basically shape their world view.

EU has become the place for pampered sheltered snob. No wonder China is not afraid of them.

[dennisw]

Since millions were slaughtered in the Western Front in WWI, and the whole continent was leveled in WWII, they have developed the mistaken idea that they can talk to death any serious geopolitical crisis.

Too many men with testosterone were killed during the two world wars so we are left with as you say---->>>

The whole continent is now run by muddle-headed humanity scholars. So-called public intellectuals, e.g., philosophers, writers, literary critics, and disciples of Frankfurt School-type social sciences basically shape their world view.

EU has become the place for pampered sheltered snob. No wonder China is not afraid of them.

Plus they have no military to speak of

[TigerLikesRooster]

Plus they have no military to speak of

That is the logical consequence of these dimwits overrunning the whole continent.

[dennisw]

The whole continent is now run by muddle-headed humanity scholars. So-called public intellectuals, e.g., philosophers, writers, literary critics, and disciples of Frankfurt School-type social sciences basically shape their world view.

These guys are addicted to eternal debate and philosophizing. They will still be debating when the Muslims take over in 30-40 years. They never learned how to stick up for their religion or culture or be proud of them

[SunkenCiv]

The meeting should have been held last December, but in an imperious gesture the Chinese cancelled it after Nicolas Sarkozy, France's president, showed "disrespect" by arranging talks with the Dalai Lama, Tibet's exiled spiritual leader.

[Jonny foreigner]

EU has zero military capability this is why the ChiComs treat them as a joke. EU has economic power and so do we. But our military power makes China cautious. Or it used to until we got a Kenyan president. Can you imagine China being run by a Kenyan?

---

True that the EU itself has (not zero) but very little millitary capability. But this does not mean that “europe” is defenceless. this does only mean that the EU has not the control of most of the EU countries millitary. this still belongs to the individuall states. so millitary power can be shared if the countries feel like but they can not be used only because the EU wants too. Another problem is that most of European millitaries still are build for a “cold war” situation. So “Europe has tousands of Tanks... over a million soldiers....” but no real deploy capability outside of Europe. So Europe is far away from beeing defenceless in “our” own backyard (btw. there is no country near by who could or would callenge the EU in military ways). the real problem is that the “EU” is not able to serious challenge anyone outside of Europe too. That´s why they are seen as a soft Power (witch is true because it´s true that the EU is the biggest single economy in this world but has no hard power capability outside of Europe). btw. not only it lacks military power for operations outside europe, the more important fact is it lacks the will to change anything in this current situation. the military capability is there (in theory) but this is useless untill someone serious want to change the forreign politics of the block.