Warning to EU exposes bias of US scholar against China
American politicians are in the habit of pressuring their European counterparts to follow their line in setting foreign agenda. Some American scholars do the same, especially when the European Union prepares to make important decisions related to China. Among them is Robert Scott, director of trade and manufacturing policy research at the Economic Policy Institute in Washington. He has warned the EU that granting market economy status to China (in December 2016, as scheduled) would increase imports from China by 25 to 50 percent, putting at least 1,745,400 to 3,490,900 EU jobs at risk.
To gain maximum attention, Scott and his colleagues released the report shortly before President Xi Jinping paid a state visit to the United States, and a time when exchanges between Beijing, on one hand, and Brussels, Paris and London, on the other, have significantly increased.
Top officials from Beijing and Brussels on Monday inked a memorandum on how to connect the EU's Investment Scheme and China's Belt and Road initiative, which is a landmark development, because it means Brussels has officially endorsed China's global proposal with concrete steps.
