The British, French, and German offices in Taipei recently issued an unusual scolding to Beijing over its stepped-up sea patrols in waters around Taiwan. Restating their opposition to any coerced change to the cross-strait status quo, they warned “it is fundamental that all navigational rights and freedoms and the safety of seafarers and vessels are guaranteed and respected.”
Whatever the statement by this “E-3” hopes to accomplish, it amounts to little more than empty virtue signalling that is most likely to drive escalation and leave both Europe and China less secure. Europe does have interests in Asia worth protecting, but its efforts to do so will be best served if it focuses first on its own regional security challenges before trying to throw its weight around elsewhere.
There are at least three reasons why the E-3 may have decided to wade into East Asian security now, a moment when Europe-China relations are at a low point due to economic disagreements and European frustration with Beijing’s continued aid to Russia.
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