Trump's pushback against China is catching on globally as European negotiator declares an end to the region's 'naivety'

The European Union met on Tuesday to end its huge hole in the security and intentions of Chinese investments in the bloc of 28 states.

The decision brings the Europeans to the recent change in US policy. UU Under Trump's administration, which views China as a clear strategic challenge and an incomparable economic spy, is partly responsible for the transfer of about $ 600 billion of intellectual property from the US economy.

The EU has developed a draft manual that will guide and coordinate the bloc's 28 member countries on foreign investment, including those outside China, reports Reuters.

The European Parliament and the holder of the EU's rotating presidency, the Austrian government, reached an agreement Wednesday to establish a European-level surveillance of China's "opaque" giants who have enthusiastically bought companies technological assets and infrastructure. .

"Opaque state-owned companies or private companies closely linked to the government have bought EU companies using advanced or dual-use technologies and strategic infrastructures that may have a potential impact on the security or public order of the EU. the EU, "the EU said in a statement. declaration.

Negotiators, both for the European Parliament and for the 28 EU Member States, signed the agreement to better protect EU strategic technologies and infrastructure, such as ports and energy networks.

An end to European ingenuity.

After an intensification of Chinese investment, the system administered by the European Commission will determine the risks to vital infrastructure or if local innovations are attacked by foreign agents or entities, as was recently asserted in the United States.

The chief negotiator of the European Parliament, Franck Proust, told Reuters that Europe is finally becoming aware of the threat that other major world economies have already crystallized.

"This will mark the end of European ingenuity," said Proust.

"All the world powers (United States, Japan, China) have a detection method, but not Europe."

A major obstacle is that more than half of the EU Member States do not have a common mechanism for transferring foreign investment, nor a coordinated assessment of security or risk.

Europe is made up of many states with very different economies, interests and concerns.

Often, when they try to balance the risks and attractions of Chinese investment, they present very different measures.

Spying in everything but name

The new bill does not distinguish China by name, but a nod to state-owned companies and secret technology transfers are obvious references in Beijing.

According to FBI director Chris Wray, no country is approaching China in terms of industrial and foreign espionage.

And investment is often the perfect foundation.

In a testimony given in May to the Foreign Affairs Committee of the US House of Representatives. Philippe Le Corre, a non-resident member of Carnegie Endowment for Peace's Europe and Asia programs, noted that of the US $ 840 million invested in 2008, China's FDI in Europe was $ 42 billion in 2008. 2017

"Although the United States and the EU do not always speak with one voice, they must coordinate their efforts and present a united front while the Chinese capital continues to flow to the European continent," said Le Corre .

According to Bloomberg, total European investment in China, including mergers and acquisitions (M & A) and investments in new facilities, was $ 318 billion. By early April, China had acquired about 360 European companies. This is 45% more than the Chinese investment in the United States between 2008 and 2017.

The proposal, called for by France, Germany and the former Italian government, still needs the support of the 28 EU Member States at their next meeting in December.

There will be some opposition

In the EU's neighborhood, Switzerland is attracting Chinese foreign direct investment with ChemChina's acquisition of Syngenta, a giant in the food industry, which this year concluded a $ 46 billion investment, the largest acquisition ever of a Chinese company.

Cyprus, Luxembourg, Malta, Portugal, Cyprus and Greece are right to welcome Chinese investments.

Chinese maritime investment has focused mainly on Greece and Portugal. The historical Greek port of Piraeus is now majority owned by the Chinese company COSCO Shipping.

"Chinese state-owned enterprises have initiated more than two-thirds of Chinese investment on the European continent, with Chinese sovereign wealth funds or state-owned banks financing other operations by private investors, illustrating Beijing's use of mercantilist policies. managed by market, said Le Corre in the House of Representatives.

Parliament will vote on the proposal in February or March.

"Member states will retain the power to control and possibly block foreign direct investment for reasons of security and public order," the EU said in a statement.

Global regression begins.

The movement is part of a broader global trend, as Germany, France, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand have each begun to reject the hidden machinations of the Chinese currency deluge.

Essentially, Europe has caught up with the rest of the world after the sharp change of the US government in the sense of a fierce rivalry with China.

Richard McGregor, an expert in China and principal investigator of the Sydney-based Lowy Institute think tank, said Australia's decision to reject a $ 13 billion bid for Australia's main pipeline system would have conferred Monopoly control only to one foreign company the country. pipelines

"If you want to develop some kind of internal resilience in Australia, you have to reject China, there is no good way to do it and you could pay the price at some point," McGregor said. a UBS conference. On Monday.

In Malaysia, new and former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad has suspended or canceled $ 2,600 million of projects funded by Chinese since his electoral victory in May.

The nations from Africa to Pacific took notice of China's takeover of the port of Hambantota, Sri Lanka, because it could not pay its debt.

Zambia has no choice but to transfer control of its international airport and a state-owned electricity company to China.

The anti-Chinese sentiment there, fanned by opposition groups, is threatening to spill over as lucrative contracts are ceded to China and the government continues to borrow from Beijing.

Myanmar is trying to emerge from a gigantic port and a China-funded industrial zone in the Bay of Bengal, from a proposed $ 7.3 billion port to a more modest one-and-a-half billion dollar development. dollars, in a desperate attempt to avoid what Western analysts have taken to call the trap of diplomacy indebtedness.

Vice President Mike Pence was the key man in the Trump administration and, more recently, asked for an extended US strike force in the Pacific.

A few months after the United States, they began to impose rigid tariffs on imports from China, worth an estimated US $ 270 billion. The law authorizing the defense, passed last August and appointed by US Senator John McCain, emphasized "the Chinese threat.

The event is being held in China on Influence Operations and the High Tech Industrial Threat in the South China Sea and the State of Taiwan.