Chinese journalist says: “Beijing needs all friends it can get within EU in the face of professed Western unity”
One of the consequences of Brexit has been to disrupt Britainâs ties with Portugal, often described as the worldâs oldest allies – and the immediate significance of this has been to âtilt another European Union member state towards Chinaâ.
This is the opinion of South China Morning Post columnist Alex Lo, a journalist/ editor and former lecturer in journalism at the University of Hong Kong, suggesting âPortugal and Chinaâs respective ambassadors JosĂ© August Duarte and Zhao Bentangâ have been sharing âa bit of bromance this week in a webinar to promote the upcoming China International Import Expoâ.
The observation follows on from comments by prime minister AntĂłnio Costa recently that Portugal wants more cooperation with China.
As Lo stresses, the apparent cosying up comes after former economy minister Pedro Siza Vieira âcomplained about the damage caused by Brexit to bilateral relationsâ.
Last year, the value of British exports to Portugal dropped by 56 per cent, compared with a fall of 10.3 per cent from across the other 26 EU member countries – and while Portugalâs sales to the EU rose by 1.3 per cent, those to Britain fell by more than 15 per cent, explains Lo.
Meanwhile, Portugal is rhapsodising over its growing relations with Beijing, he said, citing ambassador Duarteâs enthusiastic: âChina is always ready to listen and help Portugal, even in this difficult world context.âÂ
âBy itself, Portugal is not all that significant to Beijing”, says Lo. “But as France and Germany turn more hardline and Chinaâs multi-year diplomatic push in central Europe has stalled, having friends such as Portugal, Italy, Greece and Hungary â where China-friendly Prime Minister Viktor Orban has scored a landslide re-election â may prove to be crucial.
âAnd while Poland has not been exactly friendly to China, it has become a very troublesome member of the EUâ, he adds.
Bottom line, says the journalist, is that âall those claims about Western or European unity â against Moscow â do not look all that solid, from the Chinese standpointâ.
The editorial comes as Expresso carries an interview with Dr Veli-Pekka Tynkkynen, a professor in Russian environmental studies at the Aleksanteri Institute and Helsinki Institute of Sustainability Science, University of Helsinki, who warns that âRussia is working round the clock organising new marketsâ for its gas and oil. âThe costs of continuing imports from Russia could be much higher than an immediate cutâ, he warns.
At the rate sanctions are going when Europe finally cuts imports of Russian gas and oil, âRussia will have found new clients. There wonât be any impact at all on the warâ in Ukraine – the implications of this being far from positive.
