Can Europe balance China’s money and US security?
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
The Pat Kenny Show. With Timber Living Log Cabins. Saturday and Sunday from 10am. On Newstalk. Conversation that counts. As relations between the United States, China and Europe continue to shift, governments across the world are trying to navigate an increasingly complex global landscape.
How is Europe caught between US security and Chinese economic influence?
With questions over America's long-term reliability, growing Chinese investment in Europe and continued tensions over trade, technology and security, many are asking whether the European Union can maintain its balance between a traditional alliance with Washington and economic ties to Beijing. Now, to help us understand the strategic calculations taking place behind the scenes, I'm joined now by Georgian, Senior Research Fellow at the Center for China Studies at the National Taiwan University. George, good morning and welcome. Hello. Now, can you tell us what is China's strategy for Europe?
I think China's strategy for Europe is to see Europe as this critical battlefield between U.S.
What is China’s strategic goal for increasing influence in Europe?
and China in terms of Chinese strategy to increase its influence. So Europe, you know, huge market, a lot of important technologies, and now there's increasing division between U.S. and Europe. So from the Chinese perspective, Europe is actually a huge opportunity.
In terms of Chinese dominance in various sectors, when you compare the United States, I mean, I suppose on the frontiers of science, on the frontiers of technology, the United States would still see itself as being preeminent. But how close is China to taking over that role?
I think the Chinese now is trying very, very hard to focus on a few critical areas to try to overtake the US. So, for instance, AI. So you might have seen recent news on how a Chinese firm, Alibaba, is now trying to... figure out the capability and capacity of cloud, right? You know, they have this scheme where they purposely, you know, wrote, you know, ask a cloud to answer questions. I think it's 45,000, you know, as a way to reverse engineer capabilities. So the Chinese is really, really smart and very, very good. And they choose the most important areas to focus on.
When we were talking recently on the program about Chinese development, time was they were, as the Japanese were in the, say, the 1950s and 60s, very good at copying things. But innovation was not their forte. Then it became their forte and the Japanese innovated tremendously in various sectors, including automotive industries and so on. And the Chinese also were doing that. They would take the best of technology and as you say, reverse engineer. Take it apart and then maybe make it better and put a Chinese badge on it.
Yes, yes, yes. And just specifically on AI, the Chinese is doing very well in terms of application because there is a huge amount of data in China. And we all know that AI needs data. With more data, the more powerful an AI model would become.
Now, when you look at the kind of alliances that countries and blocs make, you look at how reliable is your strategic partner. Now, traditionally, the United States would have been regarded as a very reliable strategic partner. So if you were buying stuff from America, you felt sure that you'd have backup. Yes. That is no longer sure. I mean, we know that the latest, even ChatGPT, they've decided to limit its distribution, the latest iteration of it. And we saw what they did with Anthropic, that it's being limited. Europe will not get access to the latest Anthropic. So if America is no longer as reliable a partner as it once was, we have to ask ourselves a question. If we get into bed with China, how reliable is that as a partner?
So I think the key here is to recognize that after all, so I think of U.S. transatlantic relations as a marriage and it's been around for a while. And we all know that, you know, a marriage always has its ups and downs. But generally, there's a principle, which is do not cheat. If the marriage is a bit problematic, try to figure things out. So I think in this case, I would say that the US and EU, you know, still huge, you know, economic interdependence.
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Chapters
4 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:01–0:20
2
How is Europe caught between US security and Chinese economic influence?
0:20–1:04
3
What is China’s strategic goal for increasing influence in Europe?
1:04–8:35
4
How close is China to overtaking the US in frontier technologies like AI?
8:35–14:43