Government sends king to China to strengthen ties with Beijing

This Monday, Felipe VI will become the first European monarch to visit China. within 7 years. The Moncloa Palace is also positioning the visit as a response to Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Spain in 2018, and as a commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between the countries agreed upon by José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, but the King’s stay in China also takes place in a very sensitive situation in Brussels. It comes days after the European Commission proposed regulations to prevent EU member states from becoming “horses of the European Union.” “Troy” when approaching China.

If Don Felipe’s first visit to China since his declaration 11 years ago, Sanchez has met with Xi Jinping three times in less than three years, which, when combined with Zapatero’s precedent, shows that the PSOE is doing nothing but strengthening ties with the Chinese regime. “Ideally, this visit would be low profile and not make any big headlines,” Alicia García Herrero, an economist and senior research fellow at the Brussels-based think tank Bruegel, told the ABC. “I hope the Kings are well prepared,” he said, especially noting that Sanchez’s previous trip to China last April “showed how easy it is to be seen as something you don’t want to be seen.” Amid a tariff battle with the EU that affected imports in the pork sector, half of which came from Spain, Sanchez visited China and ended up posing for a photo with Xi Jinping, “where he seemed to publicly support the idea that there should be no trade war with China.”

The fact that the Kings are leaving “It has a lot of symbolic weight.” That’s why García-Herrero hopes that “everything is so meticulous that there is no room for misunderstanding” and that the preparations for the trip are “so thorough that we cannot repeat that photo of Sánchez, because China definitely wants to bring the kings to its territory.” “They believe that what happened with Sánchez can be repeated beyond the king,” he said, adding that King Felipe VI “has shown unconditional and unwavering support” for the Chinese Communist Party’s dictatorship.

Possibilities of a second world

China is the world’s second largest economy after the United States, so it should come as no surprise to anyone that the royal couple would visit the country. “Controversial issues are ignored in this type of visit,” said one diplomatic source interviewed by the ABC.

“What is undeniable” and what is really worrying is that “in Brussels they have been observing the development of the Sánchez government and now they see us as follows.” Excessively pro-China and not neutral»This creates distance from other European partners and at the same time “highlights the current poor relations with the United States.” “We are moving closer to China, and that could create some anxiety,” the official explained, recalling that earlier this year, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent warned Madrid that closer ties with China would be “commercial suicide.” This reaction from the US side does not reflect the background of White House interests. While the White House controls China’s relationships with the rest of the world, especially with its major partners and allies, the Trump administration maintains a fluid dialogue with China and strikes its own trade deals.

« The most important ally For Spain, it is America. “If you look at the statistics on Chinese direct investment in Spain, it’s officially about $400 million, while US investment has halved so far this year, but it’s still only 1.5 billion,” explains Mario Esteban, a professor at the Autonomous University of Madrid and a senior researcher at the Elcano Royal Institute, who specializes in East Asia. Our major investor. The first thing to note is what they gained in exchange for stronger diplomatic relations. There is an imbalance in economic relations, with China investing heavily in Spain, but not vice versa. This visit is aimed at stabilizing the trade balance.

Asked whether the diplomatic efforts of the past two years had been worth it, Esteban said he believed so, saying the king’s visit was aimed at strengthening economic ties and “there is no need to look for more readings.” He said the visit was “not as ambitious as one might think”, adding: “Spain has always had good harmony with China, but the two countries are not working together as much as expected.” With France and Germany highly dependent on China, China and Madrid “saw an opportunity to strengthen their ties to resemble those of other countries.” Regarding China, Esteban explains that “we have always been an underdeveloped country” and that nothing happens because we are having a dialogue outside the EU, the kind of dialogue that other member states have been building for years. Furthermore, according to him, «That doesn’t mean I’m pro-China.In fact, China is very angry with Spain. That’s because Spain was one of 10 countries that abstained in the Brussels vote on tariffs.

managing expectations

But García-Herrero believes “expectations are dangerous” about the trip, saying: “It would be a mistake to expect that through this diplomatic marathon we will get out of China something that no one has ever gotten.” Especially in recent years, during the close encounter between Sanchez and Xi Jinping, “no one disputes that the treatment we received from China was special.”

“I don’t think we should make a big deal out of it, and I don’t understand the interest in this issue or why there’s so much prejudice,” he says. “Europeans don’t look at Chinese investment the way we see it in Spain,” he warns, where we see Chinese investment “as manna, but the numbers actually say the opposite. China is Europe’s 20th biggest investor, by no means the main investor, but it also has a lot of strategic problems.” “There will be investments in ports and critical infrastructure, which will have long-term implications. In any case, it will end up being expensive,” the economist stressed, adding, “The more China controls our infrastructure, the more vulnerable and dependent it will make us.”

Miguel Otero, professor of international political economy at the Empresa Institute, believes that “Spain is no different from what other EU countries are doing with China,” observing that “there is no equidistance” between the United States and China, as Spain is an ally of the former and both countries are members of NATO, but “has very important commercial and economic interests” with the latter. He said Spain has “always prioritized playing as an EU team,” and now believes that “we are a growing country, so pointing that out is on the agenda,” and that they are daring to move closer to China. Spain is doing the same as France, Germany and Italy, but is “now in the crosshairs of a government that is socialist and critical of President Trump.”