Mick Wallace (The Left). - Mr President, the anti-China policy proposals coming out of the US State Department in recent years are alarming. There are a growing number of influential policymakers who are openly planning a war with China. The report before us calls for the EU to copy the US and NATO and support the creation of a new anti-China alliance with Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea. The Council on Foreign Relations, the Carnegie Endowment, Heritage Foundation, Hudson Institute and the Brookings Institution have all been promoting similar policy proposals in recent months. One recent book written by a CFR member openly calls for military attacks on the Chinese mainland with the aim of countering Chinese economic influence in south-east Asia.
This report before us is further evidence of the dominance of the US and NATO over policy formulation in the EU. We should be cooperating with China, not planning another war to protect the interests of Western financial capital. And keep in mind that China’s military spend is still only one third of that of the US, and China hasn’t bombed anyone in 40 years.
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European Parliament’s plenary adopts Report on the EU and the security challenges in the Indo-Pacific
Report on the EU and the security challenges in the Indo-Pacific was adopted by the plenary of the European Parliament with a final vote of 474 in favour, 60 against and 80 abstentions.
This report:
- calls for the EU’s Indo-Pacific Strategy to be used as a tool to effectively increase its presence and influence in the region through furthering strategic ties and deepening all-inclusive dialogue and cooperation on security- and defence-related matters with regional like-minded countries and organisations;
- highlights that maritime security and freedom of navigation are among the key challenges in the Indo-Pacific;
- underlines that the illegal and unprovoked Russian aggression against Ukraine has a profound and lasting impact on international relations and that as a result the EU must further consolidate its international engagements, including in particular in the key strategic area of the Indo-Pacific;
- highlights the need to ensure EU unity as a pre-condition to achieve its ambition of open strategic sovereignty amid the increasing multi-faced threats and competition among powers, notably the United States, Russia and China;
- points out that the increasing commitment of the US to the Indo-Pacific has implications for European security and therefore reiterates the need for a capable European Defence Union;
- expresses deep concern about China’s rapid military build-up; deplores the crackdown on democracy in Hong Kong and Macau, as well as China’s failure to comply with its obligations under national and international law to respect human rights, including the rights of minorities in Xinjiang, Tibet and Inner Mongolia and threats posed by China to the territorial integrity of Taiwan; condemns China’s diplomacy of intimidation and manipulative disinformation campaigns;
- considers Taiwan as a key partner and democratic ally in the Indo-Pacific;
- strongly welcomes the close coordination with Australia, Japan, the Republic of Korea and New Zealand in response to the Russian aggression against Ukraine and welcomes the close alignment between the EU and these four countries when it comes to sanctioning Russia; welcomes the strengthened dialogue between NATO and these four Indo-Pacific partners,
- highlights the fundamental role that connectivity plays in the geopolitical relations of the EU and its Member States.