An EU infrastructure plan linking Europe with the world is the latest step after deals with India and Japan and a similar pledge by the Group of Seven richest democracies. With concerns about Chinese President Xi Jinping’s Belt and Road Initiative, which seeks to link Europe to Asia via infrastructure for greater influence, the EU set out a formal path for an ambitious ‘connectivity’ plan starting in 2022.
‘China is using economic and financial means to increase its influence everywhere in the world. We are obligated to offer alternatives’, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas told reporters at a meeting with his EU counterparts in Brussels on Monday. The European Union must coordinate very closely with the United States, he said. The EU and Japan have already signed partnerships to coordinate transport, energy, and digital projects linking the two continents. Beijing and Tokyo are both concerned about Chinese generosity, which they say makes poorer countries dependent on Beijing because they are forced to assume such large debts.
Besides offering first-loss guarantees to private companies and Western government know-how, the G7, whose leaders met in England in June, want more transparency in infrastructure partnerships. According to Western officials, Montenegro, a member of NATO and an EU aspirant, is the most prominent victim of Chinese debt. In 2014, Montenegro borrowed nearly $1 billion from China to build a 41km stretch of road, a sum that threatened to bankrupt the country. Reuters reported this month that it is negotiating with Western banks to swap or refinance its debt.
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The EU’s global strategy, ‘A Globally Connected Europe’, makes no mention of China, and Luxembourg’s foreign minister warned against making China an adversary, noting that German automakers sell more vehicles in China than in Germany. Nevertheless, one EU diplomat involved in the drafting of the strategy said the document was full of ‘China references’. China has initiated construction projects in more than 60 countries since 2013, seeking to create a network of land and sea links with Southeast Asia, Central Asia, the Middle East, Europe, and Africa. Beijing denies any intention of projecting power and claims the infrastructure corridor is aimed at meeting the needs of ordinary people.
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