The big news in recent days has been the rise of AUKUS (America, UK, Australia) a new Anglo alliance that aims to serve as a backbone to geopolitical "containment" of China.
The centrepiece of this has been a deal to equip Australia with nuclear-powered subs. But AUKUS will also provide a framework for nations in the Asia-Pacific region, like India, Japan, the Philippines, etc. to counter rising Chinese influence.
The sub deal also saw Australia cancel a $30 billion deal with France for non-nuclear subs. Since then one of the big questions has been how will France and the EU respond.
While France has made a lot of noise about the cancellation of their sub deal with Australia, the EU is taking a different approach, one that appears to align it completely with AUKUS.
As reported by Reuters:
The European Union set out a formal strategy on Thursday to boost its presence in the Indo-Pacific and counter China's rising power, pledging to seek a trade deal with Taiwan and to deploy more ships to keep open sea routes.The EU's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell insisted the strategy was also open to China, particularly in areas such as climate change, but diplomats told Reuters that deeper ties with India, Japan, Australia and Taiwan were aimed at limiting Beijing's power.Borrell also said Wednesday's agreement between the United States, Australia and Britain to establish a security partnership for the Indo-Pacific, in which the EU was not consulted, showed the need for a more assertive foreign policy.
Yes, the EU will be "more assertive" by following in the wake of what Britain, Australia, and the US unilaterally decided to do without them.
"We must survive on our own, as others do," Borrell said as he presented a new EU strategy for the Indo-Pacific region, talking of the "strategic autonomy" that French President Emmanuel Macron has championed.
"I understand the extent to which the French government must be disappointed," he said.
The plan points to EU cooperation with AUKUS through increased economic investment in the region and by EU ships joining in Australian patrols through the South China Sea.
"Given the importance of a meaningful European naval presence in the Indo-Pacific, the EU will explore ways to ensure enhanced naval deployments by its member states in the region," the document said.
Also the plan involves strengthening EU ties with Taiwan in a challenge to Beijing's "One China" policy. EU state Lithuania has already taken a lead in deepening ties with Taiwan.
Yes, make no mistake about it, everyone is ganging up against China.
This is in accord with the plan outlined by Klaus Schwab in his book The Great Re-Set, in which the importance of de-coupling the global economy from China is set out:
This process of reversing globalization will not happen overnight; shortening supply chains will be both very challenging and very costly. For example, a thorough and all-encompassing decoupling from China would require from companies making such a move an investment of hundreds of billions of dollars in newly located factories, and from governments equivalent amounts to fund new infrastructure, like airports, transportation links and housing, to serve the relocated supply chains. Notwithstanding that the political desire for decoupling may in some cases be stronger than the actual ability to do so, the direction of the trend is nonetheless clear. The Japanese government made this obvious when it set aside 243 billion of its 108 trillion Japanese yen rescue package to help Japanese companies pull their operations out of China. On multiple occasions, the US administration has hinted at similar measures.
