China tells EU Commission president to get better speechwriter

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s speech ahead of her visit to China was incoherent, contradictory, and misinterpreted Beijing’s policies and positions, the Chinese ambassador to the EU said on Friday.

“I was a little bit disappointed,” Fu Cong told the news network CGTN. “That speech contained a lot of misrepresentation and misinterpretation of Chinese policies and Chinese positions. And I would say that whoever wrote that speech for President von der Leyen does not really understand China, or deliberately distorted Chinese positions.”

Von der Leyen gave off the impression of realizing the importance of engaging with China on the one hand, but being “fearful of criticism, especially from hardliners in Europe and maybe even from the US,” on the other, Fu added. Reading the speech, it seems “as if two people are quarreling with each other, so there is no coherence.”

“We do hope that in her visit to China and in her dialogue with the Chinese leaders, she will be able to understand China better,” the ambassador concluded.