The lecture will lay the foundation for a summit between the EU and Chinese leaders in Beijing on July 24th and 25th.
The European Union’s diplomatic director urged China to end restrictions on the export of rare earth elements, warning that support from Chinese companies in Russia’s war in Ukraine poses a serious threat to European security.
A statement from Kaja Karas came on Wednesday after a meeting with Brussels Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.
The EU is looking to improve relations with China amid President Donald Trump’s tariff war, which is shaking major trade forces.
But instead of improvement, trade spats have deepened between Brussels and Beijing over alleged unfair practices by China. The 27-nation bloc is also opposed to the flow of important technology to Russian military through China.
In a meeting with Wang on Wednesday, Karasu “urged China to end skewed practices, including restrictions on rare earth exports that pose serious risks to European businesses and endanger the reliability of the global supply chain,” a statement from her office said.
In trade, Karas called for “specific solutions to readjust economic relations, level the playing field, and improve the interrelationships of market access.”
She also “emphasized the serious threat that Chinese companies’ support for Russia’s illegal war poses to European security.”
China has said it has not provided military support to Russia for the war in Ukraine. However, European officials say Chinese companies provide many of the key elements to Russian drones and other weapons used in Ukraine.
Karas called on China to “quickly stop all material support to maintain Russia’s military industrial complexes,” and supported “a complete and unconditional ceasefire” and “a fair and lasting peace in Ukraine.”
Wednesday’s discussion was to lay the foundation for a summit between EU and Chinese leaders on July 24th and 25th. Council of Europe President Antonio Costa and European Commission’s Ursula von der Leyen will travel to China for the summit along with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Tian.
Earlier in the day, the king also met Costa as part of these preparations.
At the meeting, Wang called on both sides to respect each other’s core interest and to increase mutual understanding, adding that “unilateral bullying has seriously undermined international order and regulations,” according to a statement from China’s Foreign Ministry.
In addition to debates on improving bilateral relations, Karasu and Wang also discussed the Iranian situation.
According to a statement from her office, both leaders welcomed the removal between Israel and Iran, but Karas said “it urges Iran to resume negotiations soon, and Europe is ready to promote consultations.”
The crows and the king also “consented the importance of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty as a cornerstone of the world’s nuclear non-proliferation regime.”
The EU, UK, France and Germany are the parties of the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, which the US abandoned in 2018, and they hope to revive. Iran has always said that the nuclear program is peaceful and it has denied seeking weapons.
