EU, US to 'team up' for value-based int'l investment to counter China

By Agnes Szucs

BRUSSELS (AA) - The EU and the US will hold a leaders' summit to join forces for value-based international investment, the president of the European Commission said on Wednesday.

Addressing EU ambassadors at their annual conference in Brussels, Ursula von der Leyen said they would convene the summit to "push forward a value-based investment agenda for the world" with US President Joe Biden.

She explained that the EU, US, and other like-minded partners should "team up" to promote value-based infrastructure investment across the world, that, for instance, supports clean energy transition or health care in developing countries.

The cooperation would complement the EU's Global Gateway strategy that aims to channel over €300 billion ($291 billion) in public and private investment for digital, energy, and transport projects across the world to counterbalance China's Belt and Road Strategy.

- War in Ukraine

Von der Leyen also warned that Russia's illegal annexation of four Ukrainian regions and its recent moves in the war bring "the challenge against the international system to a completely new level."

She asserted that Russia's war against Ukraine, followed by referendums with "people forced to vote at gunpoint" and its threat to use nuclear arms if Ukraine reclaims its territory "is an attack against the entire UN Charter."

The war in Ukraine can define "the future of the entire world," she stressed, calling on EU ambassadors to continue convincing other countries of the importance of the rules-based global order.

- China's foreign policy

At the same time, von der Leyen reminded that the Kremlin's "revisionism" was not "the only, nor the most serious threat to the rules-based order."

The so-called "no-limits partnership" declared by Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping in September was another "clear challenge" to the current world based on the core values of the UN Charter, she stated.

"We are observing carefully the aftermath of the 20th Congress of the Chinese Communist Party to see any changes to China's international posture," von der Leyen asserted.