I’m going to go bottom line, then cool down a bit and continue with the gist of the article.
U.S. Forces fought valiantly to save Europe from itself — twice — in the 20th century, at a cost of nearly 900,000 American lives. Yet, recent polling found that more than six in 10 Europeans oppose backing the U.S. in a war with China, while only a quarter would “take America’s side.” That is disgracefully ungrateful.
Then again, that is Europe in a self-absorbed nutshell.
The European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) recently published the results of an extensive survey of over 6,000 people across 11 European Union member nations — Austria, Bulgaria, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, and Sweden — the purpose of which, the ECFR wrote, was “to understand how European citizens see their place in the world today.”
Uh-huh.
And how would European citizens see their place in the world today if Russian dictator Vladimir Putin or ChiCom strongman Xi Jinping came knocking at France’s door? Or the doors of any of the other countries whose citizens were polled? More important, what would they see as the role of the United States of America? Exactly — the same role America took in both World Wars; to save Europe’s ass.
According to the survey, 62 percent of Europeans would want their respective countries to remain neutral if a major war broke out between the U.S. and increasingly aggressive communist China.
“China is not Russia”
In an introduction to the survey results, the ECFR contrasted the views of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen with those of French President Emmanuel Macron.
Von der Leyen describes China’s strategic priorities as “striving for security and control instead of reform and opening,” with the goal to “systemically change the international order,” thus “making China less dependent on the world and the world more dependent on China.”
Translation: World domination, most likely by economic means — at first.
But Macron being Macron — and France being France — the French president advocates for “greater rapprochement after three years of China’s rigorous “zero COVID” restrictions (draconian lockdowns that saw untold numbers of desperate Chinese citizens locked in their apartment buildings for months with no way out). Macron speaks glowingly of reviving “the strategic and global partnership with China” and “deliberately avoids critical remarks on the subject of Taiwan.”
In a recent trip to Beijing, the ECFR noted, Macron’s message to Xi was clear:
Paris wants close economic relations with Beijing, even if China does not oppose Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and continues to maintain close relations with the Kremlin. In fact, Macron has often suggested that the EU should work with China to solve the Russia problem.
I included the divergent views of the European Commission president and those of Macron because, according to the survey results, the majority of Europeans agree with Macron.
A majority of Europeans neither see China as a power with a desire to undermine or challenge Europe nor do they agree with the “democracy versus autocracy” framework promoted by the Biden administration. Despite the “no limits” partnership that China and Russia announced in February 2022, the survey showed that the European perception of China remains neutral — at worst.
The survey also found:
- 3.3% of Europeans regard China as an ally “that shares our interests and values”
- 43% see China as a “necessary partner … with which we must strategically cooperate”
- 7% of both French and German respondents said Europe or their countries should support China against the U.S in a war
- Bulgarians, the most anti-American of all, were the most likely to regard China as a “necessary partner” (58%)
- Swedes were the most hawkish on China, with 26% calling it an adversary “with which we are in conflict” and 24% calling China a rival “with which we need to compete”
- 35% of Swedes and 31% of Poles would support the U.S. in a war with China over Taiwan.
WW II French general and later, president of France famously said: “No country has friends, only interests.” That sentiment apparently remains in the minds of a majority of Europeans.
The thing is, as history has shown us at least twice, as Europe’s “needs” change — survival, that is — it comes scurrying to America for help every time. Go figure.