Miriam Lexmann,a Member of the European Parliament from the centre-right EPP,said the EU's foreign policy towards the People's Republic of China had to be"values-based"if the EU was to have any credibility at home and abroad.
"To deal with the risks emanating from China's authoritarian and assertive policies,EU leaders and policymakers must realise that our values do not hinder our policies — but policies that ignore our values do,"Lexmann said.
"If the EU wants to have credibility at home and abroad,we must ensure a consistent value-based foreign policy towards the People’s Republic of China."
China's treatment of Australia key
The group has been in the works for five weeks.
Duncan Smith said he was"astonished"at the level of interest in joining the coalition,particularly from Sweden and Germany.
"Some countries — we hadn't even asked — had heard about it and then jumped in,"he said,citing Norway and Sweden.
"It astonished me that they should feel so strongly about it.
"What we've discovered is that underneath the surface there is genuine concern about China."
He saidBeijing's aggressive wolf-warrior diplomacy andeconomic intimidation towards Australia had accelerated the need for the group,with many of the represented countries still forming their China policy.
Duncan Smith saidChina's actions in the South China Sea andcrackdown in Hong Kong since the pandemic had shown the West that it was dealing with a new posture from Chinese President Xi Jinping and must adapt fast.
"There was a chain of events signalling quite a significant change in direction from the Xi government in that they were no longer interested in general diplomacy but were using their power to intimidate different nations,"he said.
Business also on notice
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Duncan Smith also warned business leaders to take notice of the grouping.
This week,HSBC backed China's new security law for Hong Kong,which Britain says is a violation of the 1984 Britain and China signed,guaranteeing Hong Kong's autonomy from Beijing.
"We respect and support laws and regulations that will enable HK to recover and rebuild the economy and,at the same time,maintain the principle of'one country two systems',"a company statement said.
He said Conservative MPs had expressed"fury"with the UK-headquartered bank on the group WhatsApp chat.
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"What I would say to HSBC is that you have greater responsibilities than just to your bottom line. The people of HK are crying out for support in terms of this challenge and the first thing you do is say'no actually,we're siding with the oppressors.'"
MPs in Australia have complained thatsome business leaders are appeasing China's actions and undermining the government's foreign policy,which enjoys bipartisan support.
Co-chairs of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China:
- Australia:Liberal MP Andrew Hastie and Labor Senator Kimberley Kitching
- United Kingdom: Labour peer Baroness Helena Kennedy and Conservative MP Iain Duncan-Smith
- United States: Republican Senator Marco Rubio and Democrat Senator Robert Menendez
- Germany:Greens MP Margarete Bause and Christian Democratic Union MP Michael Brand
- Japan: Independent MP Shiori Yamao and Liberal Democrat MP Gen Nakatani
- Canada: Conservative MP Garnett Genuis,Liberal MP John McKay and former Liberal attorney-general Irwin Cotler
- Norway: Liberal leader Trine Skei Grande and Conservative MP Michael Tetzschner
- Sweden:Liberal People's Party MP Fredrik Malm and Christian Democrats Councillor Elisabet Lann
- The European Parliament:Green MEP Reinhard Bütikofer and European People's Party MP Miriam Lexmann