“Politically, the European Union should not consider China a reliable partner”, argues Cavaco Silva

Former President of the Portuguese Republic Aníbal Cavaco Silva argued on Thursday that the European Union (EU) should not consider China a reliable partner due to its support for Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decisions. The former Head of State also warned that trade wars are harmful to a “small economy” such as Portugal’s, considering that Mercosur is an important alternative to trade relations with the United States.

Aníbal Cavaco Silva was speaking at a Financial Times conference on ‘Portugal’s position in a changing global order’ at Nova SBE in Lisbon, when he identified the challenges currently facing the international community.

“China, the world’s largest trading power, with an economy rapidly approaching the size of the United States and whose currency is accepted regionally as a means of payment, must inevitably occupy a relevant position in European external relations. In its dialogue with the Chinese authorities, in defending its interests, it must adopt a very firm stance in the face of the aggressiveness and unfair competition of Chinese exports”, he said.

However, he warned that “politically, the European Union should not consider China a reliable partner, given that it supports Putin’s invasion of Ukraine and the atrocities committed by Russia”.

The former President of the Republic also argued that the EU needs to invest more in defence, requiring the union of Member States for the industry to gain scale. “Both the threat from Russia and the new US administration have made it clear that the European Union needs to invest more in defence”, he said.

“Europe, as a defender of democracy, liberal order and the prosperity of its citizens, cannot hesitate in its support for Ukraine and in imposing sanctions on Russia. The dictators of the world cannot be allowed to perceive Western democracies as fragile”, he stressed.

For the former President of the Republic, “effective coordination between Member States is essential to reduce the fragmentation of the European defence industry and enable it to gain a competitive international scale”.

Cavaco Silva also recalled the trade war that has been going on since Donald Trump arrived at the White House, considering that the trade agreement between the European Union and the United States “will not be the end of trade and political tensions with the US administration”, arguing that, although the document favours the United States, “with President Trump, the future is always uncertain”.

“For a small economy like Portugal’s, trade wars are harmful, and this is a time of great global uncertainty, with autocratic regimes gaining increasing economic and political weight. Therefore, the European Union must strengthen and improve external relations to reduce vulnerabilities and ensure a prominent geopolitical position in the emerging new world order”, he said.

In this regard, he recommended not only diversifying export markets, but also “self-sufficiency in strategic production to avoid disruptions in supply chains”. In this context, “Portugal must advocate for the strengthening of European relations with Africa, Latin America and the Mediterranean border countries”, he pointed out.

“Equally strategic for Portugal is to take full advantage of the European Union’s free trade agreement with third countries such as Canada, Japan, South Korea, Mexico and Mercosur”, he argued, considering it ‘unacceptable’ that the entry into force of the EU’s trade agreement with Mercosur, signed in December last year, “is being blocked by one or two countries”. For Cavaco Silva, the bloc “must inevitably occupy a prominent place in European external relations”.