China’s “unfair” trade practices was denounced by Green MEP (Image: Getty Images)
The lawmaker’s warning comes after Brussels set out a 10-point plan last week for more balanced economic relations with China, whose rising power is a source of growing concern. Asked by RMC radio whether he was worried about China’s efforts to pursue expansionism and regional hegemony, he said Beijing’s long-term political objective was to break the bloc apart. He said: “I’m terribly worried. Because it’s a political project, and not an economic project. One designed to help China become a regional hegemon and cause the dissolution of the European Union.”
Brussels has been increasingly frustrated by China’s reluctance to open up its economy (Image: Getty Images)
Mr Jadot, leader of the Europe Ecology-The Greens (EELV) party’s list for the May European parliament elections, continued: “We need to put on a united European front against Xi Jinping, because the Chinese plan, just like the Russian plan, is to break the European Union. They don’t want us to be an economic and political power.”
Denouncing China’s “unfair” trade practices, the green MEP accused the Xi government of “systematically buying the complacency of European leaders and triggering the division of Europe.”
Mr Jadot’s comments came at the end of Mr Xi’s three-day trip to France, and one week after the European Commission set out a 10-point plan for more balanced economic relations with Beijing, telling EU leaders how to best respond to a rising, more aggressive China.
The action plan marks a sharp shift in the bloc’s stance towards its top trading partner ahead of an EU-China summit on April 9.
The EU executive said the bloc should push for a more reciprocal
