China is buying Europe, has the time come to learn Chinese?

On several occasions, I have been able to make friends with colleagues from China who were studying in Europe. In conversations with them, they confessed to me their surprise at the difficulty of their language in comparison with the rest; even they were not very sure how they had learned that infinite number of Kanjis, and recognized with modesty those that remained to be learned. Even they find their own language complicated. So why should we strive to understand the culture, the values and the language so different and far from our own? Well, because they are not as far away as they seem.

In the Bordeaux region, Chinese entrepreneurs have been buying land in the area for years, and as a result, traditional wines with ancient names are now called Conejo Imperial or Antílope Tibetano. But nobody dares to complain; Chinese compatriots are by far the largest importers of French wine in the world, with an annual turnover exceeding 300 million dollars. If they want to change the name, well, they change the name and that’s it.

EUROPE ON THE ROPES

At the European level, the problem takes on a more serious tone, since the money at stake is greater and the agreements are not between winegrowers, but between sovereign countries that belong to the European Union’s common market. As such, they are expected to act in consensus, all applying the same common policy. But European countries are divided.

As so often, when one makes the effort to investigate the issue, one finds that everyone is partly right. Germany wants to stop the sale and signing of indiscriminate agreements and contracts with China, as it sees Chinese entrepreneurs buying German technology and slowly but surely becoming direct competitors of its powerful technology industry.

The Greeks, on the other hand, have signed a very beneficial agreement for the country through the BRI (Belt and Road Initiative, the subject of my TFG). They sold the ownership of part of the port of Piraeus to the Chinese multinational COSCO (the largest container transport company in the world). This sale was an economic success for the area and the region.

These two conflicting visions can be extended to the entire union. France and Germany are in favour of greater vigilance with regard to contracts and purchases of European assets by Chinese companies. Peripheral countries such as Italy, Greece or Portugal make fruitful deals for the country by helping economic growth, and look with skepticism at agreements at the European level, which would undoubtedly be dominated by the German and French perspectives.

CHINA IS ALWAYS AHEAD

China, from the other side of the world, is always one step ahead, and they know all too well the political quarrels among Europeans. They are more strategic than we are, and they know the game they are playing. Divide and conquer, that has to be their motto for their way of acting. A divided Europe does not have the power to influence their decisions as a united Europe would and with the common goal of maintaining its sovereignty in the face of their massive purchase of assets and economic power.

At the moment the tactic is working for them. The European Union is not prepared for the tactical and destabilizing influence of a powerful China with the objective of extending its tentacles to the most unsuspected corners of our beloved Europe. Everything will be fine as long as we do what they say. But when one of our decisions harms them, we will realize that our ability to move has been limited, the tentacles are squeezing us and not allowing us to make decisions freely.

BUSINESS IS BUSINESS

What I want to emphasize, in the end, is the need to learn Chinese as soon as possible, because if you don’t know your enemy, there is no way you can defeat him, and because China is one of the oldest civilizations in the world. At the moment everything is going well, we can pretend to be friends, trade together, do business, sign contracts. But we have to be prepared for when things go wrong and Europe needs people to fight on the European side with the same fervor and dedication as the Chinese commissioners and officials. In the meantime, someone has to do business with these people who are full of money, who come here and have so many other needs and luxuries that someone has to satisfy in addition to signing contracts. They are in Europe, damn it, you have to visit places and swim in the beaches of Spain. So be it.