In a recent interview, when The Telegraph asked if she was willing to engage less with China to placate the US, amid concerns the US may put pressure on the UK to limit its deals with Beijing, the UK’s Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves said that “China is the second biggest economy in the world, and it would be, I think, very foolish, to not engage. That’s the approach of this Government.” These remarks are regarded as a clear and pragmatic response to the US-led wave of protectionism, as well as US coercive diplomacy.
“The UK is one of the US closest allies, but Reeves’ remarks reflect a growing recognition across Europe that aligning with Washington’s approach offers little benefit for their own long-term development,” said Dong Yifan, an associate research fellow at the Belt and Road Academy of Beijing Language and Culture University.
Reeves’ remarks aren’t just an isolated voice. Washington’s abuse of tariffs and coercion against even allies are dragging European allies into an economic vortex of uncertainty and threatening the stability of global supply chains. The recent visits to China by French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez conveyed a shared message: In the face of external uncertainty, strengthening engagement with China is both necessary and prudent.
It was reported earlier this month that the US wants its trading partners to limit China’s involvement in their economies in exchange for concessions on “reciprocal tariffs.” Reeves’ refusal to cut business ties with China indicates a pragmatic attitude toward the country and underlines one inescapable truth: China’s economic magnetism is too powerful to ignore.
Even amid global turmoil and external pressure, China’s economy continues to demonstrate remarkable resilience. Recent years have seen consistent efforts to attract and stabilize foreign investment and promote high-level opening-up. Stability and predictability – key hallmarks of China’s policy approach – form the foundation that investors trust.
According to China’s Ministry of Commerce, China’s foreign direct investment (FDI) in the mainland in actual use climbed by 13.2 percent year on year in March. During the January-March period, 12,603 new foreign-invested enterprises were established nationwide, representing a year-on-year growth of 4.3 percent.
Meanwhile, the US is charting an opposite course. By wielding tariffs as a weapon and repeatedly igniting trade disputes, Washington has not only unnerved American businesses but also alarmed global investors with escalating risks. In addition, US economic policy is becoming increasingly volatile, politically driven, and detached from real economic fundamentals. Today, it stands as the greatest “black swan” in global trade.
China has already demonstrated its dual strengths: resilience in its domestic cycle and vitality in global cooperation. Those who violate economic rules and seek to rewrite market fundamentals through political interference are doomed to suffer the consequences.
Time and again, facts have shown that China is not a risk, but an opportunity; not a threat, but a partner. The stance of not yielding to the US in disengaging from China stems from a calm judgment based on one’s own interests, but also highlights the widespread resistance from the international community against the US recent hegemonic behavior of abusing tariffs and coercing allies.
The facts repeatedly prove that any coercive diplomacy that goes against economic laws and undermines multilateralism will ultimately devolve into a political farce of isolation. GT
