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US-China relations
EconomyChina Economy

China coming ‘closer’ to US as ‘global power’, European ex-leader says

Former Portuguese prime minister says Beijing is ‘scoring more points’ in a ‘volatile’ world through economic growth, diplomatic victories

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Jose Manuel Durao Barroso, former president of the European Commission and prime minister of Portugal from 2002 to 2004, delivers a keynote speech at the 19th Asian Financial Forum in Hong Kong. Photo: Eugene Lee
Ralph Jennings
China is approaching the United States in terms of overall world power including economic mettle, a former European Commission leader and Portuguese prime minister said this week.

The United States remains the “most important global power” but China is getting closer, said Jose Manuel Durao Barroso, the European Commission president from 2004 to 2014, pointing to US technology and finance among other aspects of its prominence.

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“China comes every time closer, from my point of view,” Durao Barroso said on Monday in a keynote speech to the Asian Financial Forum, an annual Hong Kong event that was expected to draw 3,600 people.

“China is the country that is scoring more points recently,” said Durao Barroso. “That’s very important to watch, not only the growth of the Chinese economy but also the diplomatic victories China has been making because of the current developments.”
Both China and much of Europe recoiled last year against US President Donald Trump’s import tariffs throughout the world, followed this month by a threat to seize the Danish territory of Greenland.

Durao Barroso – without calling out the US by name – labelled today’s international situation as more “volatile”, “unpredictable” and “dangerous”, with increased “big power competition”.

Chen Zhiwu, chair professor of finance at the University of Hong Kong, said China scored points by not mimicking the US.

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“The good thing for China and the leader is that he does not need to do anything,” Chen said. “He can just sit there and watch what Trump is doing.”

The forum speaker called Europe an “indispensable part of this global complex organisation”, along with the US and China.

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