Check against delivery! 

Dear Foreign Minister, dear Director Wang Yi, good afternoon to everybody,

We have just finished this 12th annual Strategic Dialogue between the European Union and China.

Well, in fact we have not finished yet, because as the Minister/Director has said, we will have to continue discussing over the dinner because there are some pending issues that need a deeper engagement.

So many things to talk [about]. Thank you for this good and candid conversation. 

We have just been able to meet here in Beijing, and it is for me, as High Representative of the European Union for Foreign and Security Policy, a great honour and responsibility to hold this Strategic Dialogue, in order to prepare the next summit between the European Union and China.

And I want to thank you, dear Minister/Director Wang Yi, and your team for the warm welcome and for hosting this dialogue. We have finally been able to hold it in person after two years of talking to each other by video conference and by phone. And meeting in person is important because, as I said, we have a lot to talk about, especially in these troubled moments.

Our bilateral relations are broad, far-ranging and increasingly complex because we share many global responsibilities. We share global responsibilities and global challenges have to be addressed through strong cooperation between China and the European Union. 

These high-level dialogues that we have held show the range of subjects and the responsibilities that we must discuss in the run up to this [EU-China] summit later this year. 

[There was] a dialogue on Environment and Climate Change, another one on Economy and Trade, on Digital, on Circular Economy, on Energy, and now this Strategic Dialogue focusing on foreign and security policy. 

First, we started discussing the European Union-China bilateral relations. These are growing [increasingly more] complex and it is not a secret that we have differences on a number of important issues. This makes it more important than ever to continue our engagement with the good spirit of cooperation. 

That is why the first thing I underlined today is that the European Union is committed to manage our bilateral relations in a constructive and responsible manner, because it is in our shared interest to do it in a constructive and responsible manner. 

This includes our substantial trade and economic ties. It is one of the largest trading relationships in the world. No one else is exchanging as much as the European Union and China. But we need a more balanced and reciprocal economic relationship. We need fairness, balance and reciprocity in order to remain as open as we are and we want to be. 

We discussed about the concept of economic security and what does it means – you know, to keep a balanced approach to trade. I stressed the commitment of the European Union to remain one of the most open economies in the world. Yes, we are one of the most open economies in the world. We don’t want to be protectionists, but sometimes we have to protect.

And the COVID-19 pandemic first and Russian blackmail of our energy imports have taught us that we must avoid over-dependencies which, in the case of Russia and in the case of the pandemic, became vulnerabilities. But any measures that we might take will be precise, will be proportional and will be compliant with our international obligations. It is our responsibility to take European security [seriously], but it will be done in proportional [manner], [and] in compliance with our international obligations. 

I also expressed our persistent concerns about the human rights in general, and in particular, we stressed our concerns on the consequences of the illegal war of aggression [of Russia] against Ukraine, which was an important part of our discussions. And in particular about the fact that the non-continuation of the grain deal [Black Sea Grain Initiative] can create instability around the world and another food crisis. 

I asked China, as a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, to use its influence on Russia to stop this war of aggression and to make this deal be renewed. 

I also stressed that any direct or indirect military support to Russia’s war against Ukraine will be of serious concern to us. Until now – and I thank for that - there has not been any kind of direct support - military support - to Russia, but it is something that for us is a very important issue.

This war has to finish. And in order to finish the war, there have to be negotiations for peace. The best way for us to take these negotiations [forward] is Ukraine’s Peace Formula - and we count on China to support this. I thank China for participating in the last meeting in Jeddah in order to take as much as possible international support for this proposal. 

This war does not stop at European borders. This war has a strong impact for the whole world in terms of food security and [it is] causing global instability. And I also asked China to [use] its influence on Russia in order to reverse the decision to withdraw from the Black Sea Grain Initiative. 

Of course, we also have discussed on the recent terrorist attacks of Hamas against Israel and the international efforts to prevent a further aggravation of the situation and its spill-over in the region.

I reaffirm our condemnation of the indiscriminate attacks by Hamas.

And we agreed that the only solution - the only stable solution - is the Two-States solution, and the international community has to engage more in order to make this solution possible. 

I insisted on the urgent need for all parties to ensure protection of civilians and to allow safe and unimpeded humanitarian access, in line with their obligations under international humanitarian law.

I underlined the need to work towards de-escalation and ensure that our long-term commitment to a political solution based on these two States – on which we agreed that we have to work for – will survive these tragic events. 

There are many other issues that we will have to continue discussing during our dinner, but it is important that this conversation has taken place with a good spirit of cooperation in order to overcome the difficulties and to work together to solve the global challenges. 

Thank you.

Q&A 

1. You have talked about the war between Israel and Hamas. The European Union has strongly condemned the terrorist attacks of Hamas against civilians and has supported the self-defense right of Israel. There are more civilian Palestinian victims nowadays than Israelis, also the northern Gaza Strip of the population in Gaza has been ordered to evacuate within 24 hours, and also settlers – Israeli settlers – are attacking civilians in the West Bank. Does the European Union condemn these Israeli attacks against civilians and support the right of self-defense of the Palestinian people? And on the other hand, Ms Ursula von der Leyen [President of the European Commission] has called therestriction of basic supplies like fuel or food in Ukraine by Russia, an “act of terror”. The siege of Gaza with no supply at all of water, medicine, humanitarian aid, fuel, electricity – does the European Union also call it an “act of terror”?

Minister, I was sure that these awful events were going to take [away] our discussion out of the relations between the European Union and China. We have been discussing a lot about so many things in our relations. But, you will allow me to give an answer to this question, although it is not directly related to the China-European Union relations that we have been discussing. 

I think that the European Union has been very clear in condemning the violence and the terrorist attacks against Israel - across Israel - by Hamas. It has deeply deplored the loss of lives. I can repeat it again, and I repeat it again: yes, we condemn this violence and terrorist attacks across Israel by Hamas.

As High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Policy, as you know, I called for a Foreign Affairs Ministers’ meeting during our stay in Oman where we agreed with Gulf states a common Statement. This common statement, that the Ministers [for Foreign Affairs] of the European Union agreed [on], and which represents the official position of the European Union is that certainly, Israel has the right to defend itself in front of this aggression, but it has to be done in line with international humanitarian law. This is part of a common statement with our Gulf partners in Oman. It is also the agreement of the Foreign Affairs Ministers, who fixed the position of the European Union with respect to such a conflict. Israel has the right to defend [itself], but it has to be done in line with the international humanitarian law.

In this statement, we said clearly that we are against any attack against civilians. And that the protection of the civilians is of outmost importance - always, on all sides, everywhere. 

About this warning of the Israeli Army for the civilian leaving the north of Gaza, certainly, civilians must be pre-warned. They must be alerted about incoming military operations in order to allow them to leave, which is what Israel has done. But such warnings, and the expected move[ment]s that they should produce, of a large part of the population – we are talking about 1 million people – must be realistic. And certainly, this is utterly unrealistic, that 1 million people can move in 24 hours.

The Secretary-General of the United Nations [António Guterres] has said that, and I join him in saying that: Yes, it is good to have a warning, but the warning has to be realistic in order to avoid devastating humanitarian consequences.

Yes, there is a deep worry about the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza, in particular due to the shortage of water, food and medical supplies, fuel and electricity. As the Secretary-General of the United Nations reminded, and I said after our meeting in Oman, creating a blockage on water, food, fuel and medical supplies is not in accordance with the international law.

So, we join the call of the United Nations’ Secretary-General Guterres, and I thank him for being ready to act. We support the United Nations’ efforts to help to alleviate the situation, including via encouraging the creation of humanitarian corridors, and allowing space for much needed humanitarian aid. It is perfectly compatible with the strong condemnation of the terrific attack that Israel has suffered from the part of Hamas. 

We will further intensify our engagement with all regional actors and with key international partners in order to provide as much protection as we can to the civilians. 

Thank you. 

• Link to the video (starting at 6:53): https://audiovisual.ec.europa.eu/en/video/I-247605