Lianhe Zaobao of Singapore recently published Chen Bing's article, which makes comments on the "China threat talk" appeared in Europe.

The article says, the reason why the European-styled "China threat" is "talk" and not "theory" is because it has not yet become an official theory, this refers mainly to the experience of the laborers and small proprietors. However, if the European-styled "threat talk" is seen merely as an economic problem, or merely as a "casual talk of the common people", then that's childish and ignorant. Though the threat they say refers to things like shoes and cotton textiles, precisely because these are concrete things that they have great anti-personnel force.

Recently, political farce was staged one act after another in Europe. The series of events, from the referendums held on the EU constitution by France and the Netherlands, to the unsuccessful summits, and then to the G8 Summit that features "the wind sweeping through the tower heralds a rising storm in the mountains", are somewhat dazzling. In the play series, people also kept talking about "China". In the past, China, in the eyes of Europeans, was the remote "Far East", that seemed having nothing to do with their lives.

I devote myself wholeheartedly to following each report on China, but gradually I discover "China" is only an attribute, while only textiles, shoes and environmental protection are the subjects. But what gives people a fresh and new idea is the talk about "threat from China", which was non-existent in the past. After China's accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO), the words most frequently used by Europeans are "challenge" and "competition".

We are already familiar with the Americans' "China threat theory" which is a "political bomb" thought out by politicians in their reveries about military strength, their farfetched conclusion can easily be exposed, even the Europeans ridicule the Yankees' theory as "false, big and empty".

But the Europeans' "China threat talk" seems to be visible and tangible and has not become an official phrase, which, however, is being quickly fermented among the people; though not so hysterical, its "exposure rate" takes an upward trend in news media. However, who dares to underestimate the numerous living beings' talk, isn't it a fact that the EU constitution is made more dead than alive by the public?

Feeling economic threat

The European-styled "China threat talk" quickly spread across the continent of Europe in the process of the French referendum. Either those oppose or those support the EU constitution, both take the "threat from China" as a clear topic for discussion, only the countermeasures they take are different. The opposition group say that the EU is being dominated by the elite of the "free group", if the EU constitution is passed, they will go even farther, asserting that French textile industry and other labor-intensive industries would find it hard to check the "mighty torrent" of Chinese products, and large groups of workers would be faced with unemployment. The support group claim that only when the EU is united more closely, can it resist China threat.

Recently, the "China threat talk" has spread to a wider range. Some people claimed that if the impact exerted by China's textiles on the European market was not so furious, perhaps there wouldn't be so many people in France saying "No" to the EU constitution. Italy's Right-wing politicians attributed the reason for economic recession to "Chinese products surrounding us like the Mediterranean Sea". Italian shoemakers complain that "Chinese shoes" have not only treaded on the European market, but also have taken Italians' work opportunities away as a result.

In Britain, small owners also talk about "China threat", because "China-made" articles of daily use have quickly occupied the goods shelves in large supermarkets, and have squeezed many small stores out into the streets.

The European-styled "China threat" is "talk", not "theory", because it has not yet become an official theory, it is mainly the experience of laborers and small owners. However, the environmental protectionists who have a great appeal in Europe are joining the chorus. They assert that China's high economic growth rate and huge population are consuming about 10 percent resources of the world and will thus bring threat to the global environment. Among the most seriously polluted 20 cities in the world, 16 are Chinese cities. As the G8 Summit is about to open, the environment protection lobby group criticizes that the representativeness of the group is not wide enough, that it should draw China in, so as to spur China to accomplish something in environment protection.

As a matter of fact, it can't be said there is no official " threat talk". In November last year, the EU enterprise and Industry-trade commission released its annual report, saying that China's lightning advance in the automobile, computer and high-tech fields has threatened Europe's economic base. China has not only technologically reached Western level, but its labor cost is much lower, posing tremendous challenge to European enterprises, so China should not be linked up with "crude shoe, hat and toy maker".

In June this year, British intelligence departments impressively listed over 20 countries, including China, as the "No.1 intelligence threat" and reminded the citizens of the need to highten their vigilance "against espionage", especially in the hi-tech field, such as IT, gene, lacer, optics and electronics.

Huge anti-personnel force hidden in trivial matters

There is no need for Chinese to be surprised at the Europeans' "China threat talk", still less organize experts and scholars to refute it. Seen from the cause of the "threat talk", Chinese can even be pleased on the quiet: Ten years ago, the EU had a trade surplus with China, by 2002, EU's trade deficit with China stood at 47.6 billion euros, the figure came to 55.5 billion euros in 2003 and 70.8 billion euros in 2004. In the first two months of this year, EU's export to China increased 2.5 percent over the same period last year, while import grew 21 percent. This development shows that China's economy resembles "a garden filled with the brightness of spring, how can it be contained". Furthermore, the European laboring people's worry is understandable, because it, after all, involves the problem related to their rice bowls.

But, if the European-styled "threat talk" is seen merely as an economic issue, or merely as "a casual talk of the common people", then that is childish and ignorant. Though the threat they say refers to products like shoes and textiles, precisely because these are concrete things that they have great anti-personnel force.

With the recently reached Sino-European textile trade agreement, we don't know how many Chinese firms and factories would feel worried and how many migrant farmer workers to the cities would face the threat of being laid off, the so-called "win-win" is nothing but the politicians' glib tongues. What's more, the real aim of the "threat talk" is to check or disfavor the development of China's high and new technological industries. If China's technologies have really reached the same level of the West, then what can they sell to China?

Don't look down upon the voice of the European laboring people, their political prolocutors have the shrewdness and subtlety to canvass votes, because the system determines the weight of popular will on the balance. The fact that the embargo of arms sales to China is not lifted to this date is not entirely because of the mischief done by the United States and Japan behind the scene, it is not without association with the influence exerted by some European people's organizations and lobby groups. In the next step, the EU is likely to join the United States to apply pressure on China and demand the revaluation of the Renminbi (RMB).

In fact, the European-styled "threat talk" has deduced many fantastic things incompatible with civilization: The Chinese shoes store was smashed in Spain, French media made a great fuss about the industrial spy case of Chinese super-girl student, the Sweden fabricated Chinese scholar espionage case, some European commentators labeled China as "a country well versed in plagiarism, etc.

All these require that the Chinese intelligently cope with them, because the Europeans are more scheming and calculating than the Americans. The mindsets of Europeans and American are actually same, both do not hope China to become "a red apricot" in the world's political and economic pattern.

By People's Daily Online