CHINA - Strong Cooperation with Europe
“I feel that Europe’s rational perception of China is increasing, believing that China’s development is in line with the logic of history and that Europe should not be afraid of it, let alone reject it,” Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said in an interview transcript.
Wang, who recently visited and met with a host of leaders from Germany, Spain and France, told Europe that in the bloc’s move to de-risk and cut dependence, it should not eliminate cooperation or reduce mutual trust.
Europe has been pursuing a de-risking strategy and reducing dependency on China particularly for critical minerals, citing a lesson from reliance on Russian gas which Moscow cut after its invasion of Ukraine.
The bloc has reiterated it does not mean to decouple from China.
Wang said the European side is positive about strengthening China-European Union exchanges at all levels, and is “very enthusiastic” about deepening practical cooperation.
-www.reuters.com, 21 February 2024
Arno's Commentary
In the Western media, led by the USA, saber-rattling seems to be the path taken. Reason? China practices what we may define as communist-social-capitalism, while the USA functions as a capital-socialist country. Meanwhile, Europe follows social-capitalism principles.
So, what is the future? Increased cooperation. This is virtually guaranteed by the great volume of merchandise being exchanged the world over. For example, Chinese exports to the EU increased almost nine-fold from 2002 to 2022. VisualCapitalist.com lists the top five exporting nations as firstly China, followed by the USA, Germany, Netherlands, and Japan. Statista.com documents that in 2023, international travelers totaled 1,285,000,000; that figure is increasing exponentially. Hundreds of thousands of flights are departing and landing around the globe. That can be said for container ships as well. A Google search reveals that container ships in the active global fleet increased from 4,966 in 2011 to 5,589 in 2022.
In summary, there will be threats and confrontation, but in the end, merchandise is king. Yet the global collapse is recorded in Revelation 18:17: “For in one hour so great riches is come to nought. And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off.”
Arno Froese is the executive director of Midnight Call Ministries and editor-in-chief of the acclaimed prophetic magazines Midnight Call and News From Israel. He has authored a number of well-received books, and has sponsored many prophecy conferences in the U.S., Canada, and Israel. His extensive travels have contributed to his keen insight into Bible prophecy, as he sees it from an international perspective.
