中欧关系：结束蜜月，面对现实

中欧关系：结束蜜月，面对现实

After the honeymoon is over, the reality sets in

Klaus Ebermann, the former European Union ambassador to China, says that he senses China's efforts to improve ties between China and the European Union, which he believes will be boosted when President Xi Jinping visits the trading bloc.

In the next 10 years there will be as much competition as there is collaboration between the EU and China, something that is normal, he says. "The proof of the pudding is in the eating. We have just got to do it."

Klaus Ebermann says in the next decade there will be as much competition as there is collaboration between the EU and China. Fu Jing / China Daily

During his state visit to Belgium, France, Germany and the Netherlands, Xi is due to visit the EU headquarters in Brussels, a first for a Chinese president.

Ebermann, now an academic, says Xi's visit is another great boost to bilateral relations after both sides held a summit in Beijing last November, the 16th since 1998. The next will take place in Brussels this year.

"So we have a lot of reasons to have a rosy picture of our relations because new political will has been injected," Ebermann says. "We are notorious, in the positive sense, for trading and technology and knowledge, which is exactly what China needs. So it's a fruitful relationship."

Ebermann says he has become more critical since quitting his job as a diplomat and public servant. But he still believes the China-EU 2020 Strategic Agenda for Cooperation signed at the summit in November is generally positive.

"I take a more critical view as an academic," he says.

At the summit four areas of collaboration were identified: peace and security, prosperity, sustainable development and people-to-people exchanges.

"We are each other's largest or second-largest trade partner," Ebermann says. "It's a win-win document and both sides have interests in such a time frame."

However, how to implement such an ambitious agenda is still a challenge, he says. Since 2003 when both sides agreed to set up a comprehensive strategic partnership, both have organized summits. There are about 60 platforms for official dialogue, although not all are active.

"The annual summits are good and there will be more," Ebermann says.

As one who regards himself as a skeptical optimist, he thinks the problem is that the dialogue is piecemeal.

"There is a lot of substance that forms the strategic dialogue. But that requires two things. First you need to get away from fragmentation; you have to see the whole picture. And, most important of all, you have to build it on mutual trust and mutual respect."

When Ebermann was the EU's ambassador in Beijing more than 10 years ago, the relationship between the two sides was extremely cordial. Brussels supported Beijing's admission to the World Trade Organization. In more recent times the two have sometimes been at loggerheads, particular because the EU has resisted China's push to be recognized as a market economy.

Nevertheless, Ebermann says trust between the two has improved as they have got to know one another better.

"During my time there was a special period - I would call it a honeymoon - because the EU stood very much for trade and economic relations and less for political issues."

Negotiations for China's accession to the WTO were extremely difficult, he says. "But this process helped the machineries come to know each other extremely well."

There was close cooperation between China and Europe in trade matters, WTO matters, economic affairs, science and technologies, he says.

"I am talking about broad trust. For me a strategic partnership requires broad trust and respect, not just in technical matters such as trade. It should go much beyond that."

Considering the proliferation of agreements now in force in Asia and worldwide, Ebermann thinks trade agreements, bilateral or regional, will always be a second-best solution.

"The best solution is a kind of Doha Round development agenda including trade, agriculture and development. I would like to see a much higher profile, visibility and commitment of the EU in these questions.

"For me, a strategic relationship is our starting point and would have to encompass such broader thinking, more ambitious thinking, the vision thing, not just a short-term act."

He also points to the cultural differences between the EU and China.

"Chinese do business with people they trust and know. And once there is that trust, they don't necessarily need a contract. In Europe international affairs and trade, in particular, are in a radically different order. You have to write down all the details of the contract and if one party doesn't comply they go to the courts."

In a relationship of trust, Ebermann believes it is dangerous to expect results in just two or three years, which he sees as the medium term.

"You have to see the longer picture and know where you want to go."

On economic reform in China, Ebermann thinks everything is heading in the right direction, even if the hand of the state is still a brake on far too many things. "If you make this simpler, if you withdraw state supervision from a number of key areas in the economies, that should be very beneficial to China's economic performance. And it's good to see there is a clampdown on one of the most inherent problems of the political system, which is corruption."

In some quarters last year, Premier Li Keqiang's visit to eastern and central Europe after the China-EU summit last November was criticized, but Ebermann considers China's activities to get the balance right in its relationships with the EU and its member states as normal geopolitics, "totally professional, understandable and what I myself would have done as well".

"On the one hand, China has painfully realized sometimes that the EU has its limits in foreign policy and international relations other than economic and technical sector issues," which means if the EU is not strong enough to deliver dialogue on foreign policy issues, bilateral dialogues come naturally.

"The other point is that China has very limited investment in Europe. Compared with highly competitive local markets in Germany, the UK or France, it's easier to get into the single market in Eastern Europe. "

Although he welcomes China's reforms since the new leadership took office last year, he feels foreign affairs need more attention."I would like to see a bit more development on international relations, what China's role in global affairs is, how China see its role in the region, not just relations with big powers such as the US but beyond."

安高胜是前欧盟驻华大使，他说自己感受到了中国为改善中欧关系做出的努力，而且习近平主席近日对欧洲的访问将进一步提升两国的关系。

未来十年，中欧之间有多少竞争，就有多少合作，他说，“好吃不好吃，尝了才知道。我们要做的就是行动。”

安高胜认为未来十年，中欧之间有多少竞争，就有多少合作 付敬/中国日报

在对比利时、法国、德国与荷兰的国事访问中，习近平将访问位于布鲁赛尔欧盟总部，这是中国国家主席的第一次到访。

安高胜现在的身份是学者。他认为继双方去年11月在北京举行峰会后，习近平的访问将再次大大提升双边关系。那是1998年以来的第16届峰会，下届峰会将于今年在布鲁塞尔举办。

“随着新的政治意愿注入，我们有无数理由相信双边关系的前途一片光明，”安高胜说，“众所周知，我们的贸易、技术和知识非常发达，而这些正是中国所需要的，因此这段关系成果丰厚。”

安高胜说他辞去外交官和公务员的职务以后，变得更批判了。但他依然相信中欧双方于去年11月签署的中欧2020战略规划具有积极意义。

峰会期间确定了四个合作领域：和平与安全、经济繁荣、可持续发展，以及民间交流。

“我们分别是对方最大和第二大的贸易伙伴，”安高胜说，“这份协议是双赢的，双方在这段时间内都可获利。”

不过，如何执行这一宏伟的计划还是个挑战，他说。从2003年双方同意建立全面战略合作关系以来，中欧双方都举行过峰会。现有将近60个官方对话平台，尽管其中某些并不活跃。

“年度峰会很有效，因而以后会有更多，”安高胜说。

自认是怀疑主义的乐观派，安高胜认为问题在于这些对话太零散了。

“构成战略对话的内容有很多，不过有两点是必须的。首先要避免碎片化，必须着眼全局。其次，也是最重要的，对话必须建立在相互信任和尊重的基础之上。”

安高胜10多年前在北京担任欧盟驻华大使时，双边关系非常热切。布鲁塞尔当时支持北京加入世界贸易组织。最近双方却时有对立，尤其因为欧洲不支持中国为了其市场经济被认可而作出的努力。

不过安高胜说，随着双方相互了解的加深，互信已经有所提升。

“我在任时是一段特殊的时期，我把它叫做蜜月期。因为欧洲更多地考虑贸易和经济关系，更少考虑政治问题。”

中国加入世贸组织的谈判十分困难，他说，“不过这一过程帮助这两种体制深入认识了彼此。”

中欧之间在贸易事务、世贸事务、经济事宜以及科技领域有紧密合作，他说。

“我指的是广泛的信任。对我来说，一段战略伙伴关系需要广泛的信任和尊重，不只在贸易等技术问题上，而是在更为宽广的领域。”

考虑到现在亚洲和世界范围内合作协议迅速增长，安高胜认为贸易协议，无论是双边还是地区性的，永远都是第二选项。

“最佳选择是一种类似多哈回合谈判的发展议程，涵盖贸易、农业和发展领域。我希望看到欧盟更高调、更明确、更投入地参与到这些问题中来。

“对我来说，战略合作关系只是起点，还将包含例如扩展性思维、宏图思维和预见性，而不仅仅是短期的行为。”

他还指出了中欧之间的文化差异。

“中国人只和自己信任并了解的人打交道。一旦建立了这种信任，连合同都不是必需的了。在欧洲国际事务与贸易中，需要特别指出，是完全相反的。必须写清合同的所有细节，一旦一方违约，就会被告上法庭。”

在一段互信的关系中，安高胜认为在二三年内期待结果是很危险的，他认为这只到了中期。

“必须看更长期的局面，知道自己想去哪儿。”

对于中国的经济改革，安高胜认为一切都在往好的方向发展，尽管政府的手仍然掌控了太多东西。“

说简单一点，要是一系列关键的经济领域摆脱了国家监管，将对中国经济形势大有好处。另外，针对最严重的内在问题之一，打击腐败也是件好事。”

李克强总理在去年11月中欧峰会后访问了东欧和中欧国家，这引发了些许争议。不过安高胜认为中国的这一举动意在平衡在中国与欧盟的关系和中国与邻国的关系，这是地缘政治的一部分。“完全专业，完全合理，换作我也会这么做。”

“一方面中国痛苦地意识到与经济和技术部门不同，欧盟有时在外交和国际关系方面有局限性。”这意味着如果欧盟如果没有足够强的能力在外交政策问题上举行对话，自然会进行双边对话。

“另一点是中国在欧洲的投资非常有限。与竞争高度激烈的德国、英国或法国市场相比，打入统一的东欧市场要容易得多。”

尽管他欢迎新一届中国领导人去年上任后实行的改革措施，他觉得外交事务需要更多的关注。“我希望看到中国在国际关系方面的进展更大一些，比如搞清楚中国在国际事务中扮演什么角色，中国如何看待自己在本地区扮演的角色等，而远不仅仅关注与美国等大国的关系。

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