German think tanks render China’s "infiltration" into the EU’s request to review China’s investment.

[Observer Network Comprehensive Report] The German "Der Spiegel", which is dedicated to constantly rendering the "China threat theory", has recently made new moves against China.

On the 5th, Der Spiegel reported that the latest research results of Mercator China Research Center in Berlin and Berlin Institute of Global Public Policy said that China is quietly infiltrating into the EU and expanding its influence on the EU decision-making level through Greek, Hungarian and other countries that want China.

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Screenshot of Der Spiegel website report

Der Spiegel claims that, unlike the high-profile Russian attempt to "manipulate European public opinion through news", China is infiltrating the EU in a "smarter, keener, more efficient and lower-key" way, which has attracted little attention at present.

The 53-page report pointed out: "China is not just knocking on the door of Europe, it has actually entered."

Gu Siting, a researcher at Mercator China, thinks that China should be taken more seriously, because China’s approach is better than Russian’s.

Screenshot of the latest research homepage of two German think tanks

The result of the study claims that China’s interests are mainly safeguarded by Greek and Hungarian countries in the EU, because they want China’s investment or are more in favor of Beijing’s economic and political model. In order to prove that China influenced the EU’s high-level decision-making with the help of EU member states, the report also cited Hungary, Greece and Norway as examples, and an EU resolution on restricting China’s investment activities was "watered down" under the pressure of Greece and the Czech Republic.

According to a study by Mercator China Research Center, in 2016, China’s total direct investment in the EU reached 35 billion euros (about 272 billion yuan), with an annual growth rate of 77%, with Germany accounting for the highest share, accounting for 31%. The research claims that China has become an important source of investment in the European continent in the last decade, and the high-tech field is the main investment target, but this has also aroused European concerns.

In this regard, the Global Times commented that the report ignored the unsynchronized development of relations between the 28 member States of the European Union and China.It is wishful thinking that "European countries must respond quickly and decisively to the growing influence of the China administration."And called on the EU to establish a mechanism to review China’s investment and strengthen the European network security and anti-espionage security mechanism.                   

For the cooperation between China and the Eastern European countries, the EU once blocked it by violating EU rules.

According to Observer. com, in January this year, the EU tried to prevent China from laying a high-speed rail between Greece and Central Europe on the grounds that Hungary did not conduct public bidding. At that time, some Russian media claimed that the railway line from Belgrade, the Serbian capital, to Budapest, the Hungarian capital, would make it easier for China enterprises to enter the heart of Europe, causing panic and vigilance among EU officials.

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Schematic diagram of China-Europe sea-land express line

Such framed remarks about "China infiltration" have long been common in western countries, and the United States and Australia often talk about it besides Europe. Australian intelligence agencies even said that they were facing unprecedented intelligence infiltration and espionage threats, and listed China as an "extreme threat".

In this regard, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has responded that there is an old saying in China, that is, "what you think in your heart is what the world looks like in your eyes". On the other hand, facts speak louder than words. According to all kinds of information disclosed in recent years, it is actually clear to everyone who is monitoring, monitoring, stealing secrets and infiltrating other countries in the world and doing everything possible to maintain and exert influence.