Chapter 5
International Peace and Security
and the Cooperation Between China
and the EU in the UNSC
Cheng Weidong
Abstract China and the EU both strongly support the United Nations Security
Council’s (UNSC) central role in coping with global threats and challenges and in
safeguarding international peace and security. However, China and the EU have so
far had only limited cooperation in the UNSC. This report analyzes the major
factors which may affect the cooperation between China and the EU, such as the
EU’s status in the UN, the preferential gap between China and the EU in the UN
and their different perceptions of some basic international principles. It also
explores the possible areas for and the objectives, ways and principles of cooper-
ation between China and the EU in the UNSC. It draws a conclusion that although
cooperation between China and the EU does exist in certainfields, there are still
disparities and there is a long way to go before forming profound and compre-
hensive cooperation between the two sides.
Keywords ChinaThe european unionThe united nations security council
International peaceInternational security
Compared with economic and trade relations, the security issue was a relatively
marginal issue in China-EU relations for a long time. This was attributable to the
following two aspects:first, China and the EU did not directly pose any security
threat to each other, nor was either side a security provider for each other; second,
on international security affairs, the powers, functions and role of the EU were
limited and China-EU cooperation was subject to restrictions from the EU’s
qualification as the subject of security before theTreaty of Amsterdamcame into
force. However, after the EU incorporated the Petersburg Tasks into theTreaty of
Amsterdamin 1997, in particular the EU adopted theEuropean Security Strategyin
2003, both China and the EU increasingly emphasized bilateral cooperation on the
international security issue under a multilateral framework, especially cooperation
in the UN Security Council. Overall, the two sides both cooperate and disagree in
the UN Security Council on international security issues; this is also the ordinary
C. Weidong (&)
Institute of European Studies, CASS, Beijing, China
©Social Sciences Academic Press and Springer Science+Business Media Singapore 2017
H. Zhou (ed.),China-EU Relations, Research Series on the Chinese Dream
and China’s Development Path, DOI 10.1007/978-981-10-1145-0_5
105