WORLD NEWS FOR MONTENEGRO DIASPORA
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AUTHOR:M.J. GDNUS
China wants to deal with the European Union as a partner, not a rival, its ambassador to Spain said, amid changing global geopolitics and Washington's new trade policy that he described as unilateral economic abuse.
Yao Jing told Reuters that the EU's 2019 strategy, which defined China as a "partner for cooperation, economic competitor and systemic rival", made no sense, as both sides advocate open markets and rules-based trade.
"We should focus on partnership. China will never be a threat or any enemy of the EU," Yao said, praising the bloc's multilateral approach to foreign policy, in contrast to President Donald Trump's isolationist agenda.
Last week, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez met with President Xi Jinping in Beijing. The visit was seen as an attempt to strengthen economic and political ties between China and Europe in the wake of Trump's tariffs.
Shortly before Sanchez's visit, US Treasury Secretary Scott Besant warned that getting closer to China would mean "cutting your own throat," a statement Madrid rejected.
Yao said he was shocked by Besant's comments, adding that the United States is "actually cutting everyone's throat" with its unilateral tariffs.
"And that's why China firmly opposes this kind of economic abuse by the United States," he said.
