Thomson Reuters
- China's relations with the EU are "at a crossroads," a senior official said.
- The FT reported comments from Valdis Dombrovskis on China's support for Russia's war in Ukraine.
- "We can choose a path towards mutually beneficial relations...or we can choose a path that slowly moves us apart."
China's support of Russia's war efforts in Ukraine have put the country at odds with the European Union, Valdis Dombrovskis, the executive vice-president of the European Commission, warned on Sunday.
Speaking before an audience in Beijing, the senior official, who oversees trade and economic matters, said China risks moving in a different direction than the bloc, according to a Financial Times report.
"We stand at a crossroads," Dombrovskis said. "We can choose a path towards mutual beneficial relations. One which is based on open, fair trade and investment, and working hand in hand on the great challenges of our time."
"Or," he continued. "We can choose a path that slowly moves us apart. Where the shared benefits we enjoyed in recent decades weaken and fade. And, as a result, where our people and economies face reduced opportunities."
Both sides are staring down economic and geopolitical headwinds ahead, the official noted, and that could cause each party to drift apart from one another.
Headlining those obstacles, in Dombrovskis' view, has been China's lack of condemnation of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Given Beijing's support of states' territories, he said "it's very difficult for us to understand China's stance on Russia's war against Ukraine, as it breaches China's own fundamental principles."
At the same time, Dombrovskis said, the EU has to remain assertive in its own right, and protect itself from unfair competition and national security threats from China.
Dombrovskis had arrived in China last Friday for a five-day trip intent on communicating concerns over the EU's 4oo billion euro trade deficit, as well as to keep dialogue open amid heightened tensions.
China, for its part, has deepened its trade ties to Russia over the last year. It has ramped up trade volumes with the warring nation, and some strategists have pointed to an increasingly lopsided relationship in Beijing's favor.
"Clearly Russia is much more dependent on China to provide it with the imports and advanced manufactured products it needs, while Russian markets represent a negligible secondary opportunity for Chinese businesses," Yale researcher Jeffrey Sonnenfeld told Insider in a July interview.