The US and the EU announced that they are creating a new trade council that will “write the rules of the road” for the global economy in an effort to counter China. On Wednesday, Beijing said it does not fear the US-EU plans and dismissed the idea as an “outdated Cold War mentality.”
The plan to form the trade body, known as the US-EU Trade and Technology Council, came out of President Biden’s meeting with EU leaders on Tuesday. It was announced in a joint US-EU statement that said the Western powers will coordinate on China policy.
The statement reads: “We intend to closely consult and cooperate on the full range of issues in the framework of our respective similar multi-faceted approaches to China, which include elements of cooperation, competition, and systemic rivalry.”
China’s diplomatic mission at the EU said the US-EU summit had gone far beyond the “norm of developing bilateral relations … It is filled with an outdated Cold War mentality and bloc politics rhetoric.”
The Chinese statement also said that Beijing doesn’t fear the coordinated Western effort against it. “Intimidation will never work on us. We will stay on the course of peaceful development and at the same time, firmly safeguard national sovereignty, security and development interests,” the statement said.
The US-EU summit came after President Biden met with G7 and NATO leaders. The GZ and NATO summits also ended with joint statements that took aim at China.