By Ambassador (p) Gheorghe SAVUICA*

In the context of very interesting and even surprising moves, particularly at the beginning of the year of 2023 within the content of the bilateral Europe-Asia relations, Romania’s President recent visit to Japan and Singapore signals Bucharest’s line to revive and further consolidate her bilateral relations with countries in Asia-Pacific region.

2023 debuted with a reinforced interest on behalf of the European Union and the European leaders towards Asia, China being one of the main focal points. The trend started earlier in 2022 with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s visit to Beijing in November, the first Western leader to visit China after the outbreak of the pandemic three years ago. While some analysts labeled the Chancellor’s visit as controversial, Scholz signaled Europe and Asia are and shall remain interconnected despite the nefarious effects of the pandemic.

In fact, having traveled with a delegation of German business leaders in tow, Scholz conveyed exactly a message about the importance of economic exchanges as forerunners to bilateral cooperation in other fields. Secondly, Scholz’s visit announced that China joins the international community in “opposing the use of, or threats to use, nuclear weapons.” In the context of the unprovoked Russian aggression against Ukraine and the risks of escalation, the German Chancellor’s assurance played a significant role.

The presence in China at the end of March 2023 by the President of the Government of Spain, Pedro Sanchez, at the Boao Forum for Asia, themed this year “An uncertain world: Solidarity and development cooperation in the midst of challenges”, is an indication that European leaders are ready to harness positive energy for global development, Asia included. As the Spanish Prime Minister put it, “Europe and Asia must join forces to address global challenges and seize every opportunity to promote dialogue and cooperation”. Besides his participation at the opening of the annual meeting of the Boao Forum, the Spanish Premier also met the Chinese President Xi Jinping, Premier Li Qiang and the Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, Zhao Leji, inter alia. Subsequently, the Spanish leader recalled: “In all the meetings I have heard the same desire for peace, stability and prosperity” stressing that “no one wants economic fragmentation or war”. Sanchez concluded that “It is essential to rebuild trust through dialogue, solidarity and cooperation.”

Similar ideas, yet more nuanced and expressed in a rather pragmatic key, have been iterated by the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen in perhaps the most comprehensive lecture of an EU leader on the EU-China relations.Delivered on March 30, 2023, before her Beijing visit, to the Mercator Institute for China Studies (MERICS), von der Leyen’s lecture strikes a complex note, pertinent to the equally complex relations between Europe and China. While admitting that “our relations (i.e. EU-China) have become more distant and more difficult in the last few years” and noting that “China has now turned the page on the era of ‘reform and opening' and is moving into a new era of security and control”, the European Commission President indicated that, for China, “the imperative for security and control now trumps the logic of free markets and open trade”. Consequently, she stressed, “The Chinese Communist Party's clear goal is a systemic change of the international order with China at its centre”. Despite the challenges presented, von der Leyen pointed that, under the circumstances, “it is vitally important that we ensure diplomatic stability and open communication with China. I believe it is neither viable – nor in Europe's interest – to decouple from China. (…) This is why we need to focus on de-risk – not de-couple.” Firmly believing that “diplomacy can still work – whether on pandemic preparedness, nuclear non-proliferation or global financial stability”, the European Commission President assured her audience that “we do not want to cut economic, societal, political or scientific ties. China is a vital trading partner”. Conversely, the high and important representative of the EU averted that a “strong European China policy relies on strong coordination between Member States and EU institutions and a willingness to avoid the divide and conquer tactics that we know we may face” signaling awareness of certain tactics employed by actors outside EU. To counterbalance such pernicious actions, von der Leyen urged to “be ready to talk and work with those who see the world differently, (...) to gradually change minds and actions.”adding that “this is what Europe will always believe in.”

Essentially, von der Leyen stepped up the EU approach from the era of “China - partner for cooperation and negotiation, an economic competitor and a systemic rival” to a more nuanced approach, reflecting the most recent dynamics, aiming to balance the political and economic de-risking, in other words limiting strategic dependencies on China, actively engaging EU’s economic defenses, while continuing to stay open to assertive dialogue and “un-risky” economic ties.

A similar position was reiterated during the European Commission President’s visit to China, on April 6, 2023, while describing the “extensive and complex relationship that we have”: firstly, as von der Leyen noted, “our trade relationship [with China] is increasingly imbalanced”, secondly, “the European Union is growing more vigilant about dependencies. Some of these dependencies raise significant risks for us, as does the export of sensitive emerging technologies”, thirdly, EU expects China to “play its role and promote a just peace, one that respects Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity, one of the cornerstones of the UN Charter”, and lastly, EU voiced its “deep concerns about the deterioration of the human rights situation in China.”

Perhaps in order to project European unity on important matters, Ursula von der Leyen traveled to Beijing along Emmanuel Macron, President of France, on April 5-7. The former has been invited to travel to China by the French President, who has also been the first Head of State to visit China after the “Two Sessions” congress which granted the Chinese President his third mandate.

According to the joint communiqué of Macron and Xi, the two Presidents agreed to “deepen cooperation in traditional areas such as aviation, aerospace and civilian nuclear energy, and cultivate new growth drivers in cooperation such as green development and scientific and technological innovation”, which some may interpret as slightly diverging from the “not de-coupling, but de-risking rhetoric of the EU”. Moreover, the two countries pledged to “continue to support a multi-polar world and greater democracy in international relations, oppose Cold War mentality and bloc confrontation, and jointly tackle all types of global challenges”, phrasing that is usually associated with the US-China rivalry and the larger context of Indo-Pacific competition. The Chinese side also mentioned its support for Europe in “achieving strategic autonomy, upholds that the China-Europe relationship is not targeted at, subjugated to, or controlled by any third party”, a concept that is usually interpreted in the key of an increased European military prowess, independent but not against the collective defense treaty Europe and North America are parties of. The concept has been widely criticized by some for the risk of creating redundancy with the capabilities already provided by NATO.

While the statements provided by the two European leaders visiting China have been rather independent, it becomes clear that, unlike other major actors, the European Union has a more articulated, nuanced, position towards China. Signaling that decoupling is not in the interest of Brussels, yet highlighting how a bilateral “healthy engagement” must be based on frankness, signals Europe’s readiness to continue doing business with China and Asia, in general. While President Macron avoided to invoke the sticks and showcased the carrots only, he actually reinforced EU’s position as the leader of the largest country in Europe.

However, the position taken by the French President could also be interpreted as a statement favouring an independent stance of Europe in relation to all other major powers in the world, which could be thought of as a plea for true multi-polarity. According to an interview granted by Macron on his plane back from the three-day state visit to China, the French President believes Europe faces “the great risk” of getting “caught up in crises that are not ours, which prevents it from building its strategic autonomy”. Shall the conflict between US and China accelerate, “we [i.e. the Europeans] will not have the time, nor the means to finance our own strategic autonomy and we will become vassals, whereas we could become the third pole [in the world order] if we have a few years to develop this”.Following the French President, Europe must reduce its dependency on the United States and avoid getting dragged into a confrontation between China and the U.S. The interview granted by the French President brings back in the international rhetoric the concepts of cooperation and independence, in a time period seemingly dominated by a bloc rhetoric – which only fuels an exponential growth of tension and possibly conflict outbreak, indisputably threatening the world peace.

In relation with China, Europe – as signaled by the visits of Scholz, Macron and von der Leyen – seems to adopt a diplomacy that would reduce the risk of relations failing and regards economic cooperation as the basis for further finding common ground. Regardless, China continues to be seen as a threat in Europe, hence the economic risk reduction strategy presented by Brussels: making the European economy more competitive and resilient, above all in the technological sectors; making the best use of the commercial tools available; adopting new defense measures for sensitive sectors of the economy and teaming up with democratic partners.

Indeed, a similar attention has been paid by Europe to other equally significant actors in Asia. During her meeting with the Indian Prime Minister Modi, von der Leyen stressed that both EU and India are “vibrant democracies, we both support wholeheartedly the rules-based international order and we have both large economies, and we are both facing a challenging global landscape. For the European Union, the partnership with India is one of our most important relationships for the coming decade and strengthening this partnership is a priority” that, according to von der Leyen consists of “three main topics – trade, technology and security.”

As two of the largest democracies in the world, India and the European Union share similar values and are called to face similar challenges. Certainly, there is still a long way to go for a more holistic cooperation between the two sides. To date, closer cooperation between the EU and India would be desirable in order to address the food security repercussions resulting from the Russian war in Ukraine. Just like Europe, India has also suffered considerable repercussions from the war in Ukraine, despite not having voiced a strong stance against the Russian unprovoked aggression against Ukraine. According to multiple sources, the country experienced an energy crisis also due to production costs, a shortage in supplies of materials for agricultural production and, consequently, the fall in the production of some primary sector products, such as wheat and oil. It is in this note as well that India and Europe are looking forward for new ways to strengthen their relationship.

Two years ago, the EU and India relaunched negotiations for a comprehensive free trade agreement, with the hope of concluding by the end of 2024. The “EU-India trade relations and investment cooperation” report, adopted by the EU Parliament, urges negotiators to find solutions to long-standing market access problems in sectors such as automotive, agriculture and pharmaceuticals.

The EU-Japan relations have significantly gained momentum in 2023. The European leg of the Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in January 2023 signaled a strong bilateral interest for deepened cooperation between Europe and Japan. The first stop of Kishida’s trip was Paris, where the Japanese Prime Minister met the French President Emmanuel Macron. France has clearly demonstrated a renewed interest in Indo-Pacific regional policy and the joint statements indicated the cooperation could also extend in the military procurement sector. Kishida’s second stop was in Rome, where the Japanese Prime Minister met with the President of the Council of Ministers Giorgia Meloni. The two leaders underlined their intention to further strengthen relations between the two countries to bring them to the level of a strategic partnership. In London, Kishida and the UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak talked about a sixth generation fighter to be built together with the United Kingdom, representing a first fundamental step of a real strategic partnership, which opens numerous possibilities in terms of military procurement, as is the case of the Japan-France cooperation.

In March 2023, the German Chancellor Olaf Scholz traveled to Japan to meet the Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. The two leaders agreed to strengthen economic and defense ties to better cope with the global security concerns, reiterating that “Japan and Germany, both industrial nations that share fundamental values, need to take global leadership to strengthen resilience of our societies”.

Certainly, ASEAN represents another significant vector of Europe demarches to strengthen its relations with Asia. In fact, starting by last year in 2022, the European Union has carried out important diplomatic activity with the ASEAN group since the pandemic outbreak. The main ongoing projects are reported in the Blue Book “EU-Asean Strategic Partnership” published by Brussels at the end of May 2022, also marking 45 years of bilateral relations between the two regional communities. The pillars of cooperation range from Education, Research and Capacity Building to Economic Cooperation and Political and Security Cooperation. The initiatives taken by EU in partnership with ASEAN present multiple opportunities to bring the soft-power and attractiveness of EU community to an area central to the Asia-Pacific strategic interests, often referred to by using concepts such as “ASEAN Centrality” and “ASEAN Unity”.

According to Andri Hadi, Ambassador of Indonesia to the EU, "the issuance of the EU’s Strategy for Cooperation in the Indo-Pacific, The Strategic Compass, and the Global Gateway, clearly indicate that the EU has a strong interest in increasing its presence and cooperation in the Indo-Pacific. Ultimately, there is a growing need for ASEAN and the EU to work together to ensure that the spirit of enduring collaboration in the region will prevail, not competition."

The “ASEAN-EU Commemorative Summit”, the first-ever summit between the leaders of EU and the ASEAN member states, held in the last month of 2022, announced the EU and ASEAN nations agreed to “develop the ASEAN-EU Strategic Partnership based on international law, mutual interest, and mutually beneficial cooperation.”

Part of the vivid European tendency of injecting vitality in the Europe-ASEAN relations could be considered the “Treaty on Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia” signed as well by the Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba at the annual summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh in November 2022. The peace treaty commits the all parties to “mutual respect for the independence, sovereignty, equality, territorial integrity and national identity of all nations”.

Starting by 2022, Romania offered the political signal with regard to its intention of deepening the cooperation with Asia. Voiced through the Romanian President, Klaus Iohannis, on the occasion of the Annual Meeting of Romanian Diplomacy in 2022, the country’s intention to enhance its bilateral relations with her partners in Asia, and not only, has started to gain momentum in 2023. According to the Romanian President, “the investment of new energy is needed to reconnect or keep close, as the case may be, Romania's friends and partners in the Middle East, the Gulf, Africa, the Indo-Pacific and Latin America. In the current moment of global crossroads, it is not geographical distances that matter, but the proximity of values and action in mutual support when needed.”

Despite not having been officially defined as such, immediately after December 1989, there were statements according to which Romania will pursue a policy of creating bridges in Asia, with the pivots on China, Japan, India and Republic of Korea. There are sufficient examples to demonstrate this concept. Despite the relations with China are lately developing at a slower pace, hopefully a temporary development, the other three pivots are on a continuous trajectory of consolidation and diversification.

President Iohannis’ Asian tour to Japan and Singapore in March 2023 represents a success and the first step in Romania’s determination to strengthen her bilateral ties with countries in Asia. Following five years of negotiations and consultations, Romania and Japan elevated their bilateral relations at the level of Strategic Partnership, signed in Tokyo by President of Romania, Klaus Iohannis and the Prime Minister of Japan, Fumio Kishida. According to the Romanian President, “It is important that we rely on each other to safeguard the fundamental values that define us – the will for peace and security, freedom, democracy and human rights, and a rule-based international order.”

In the same note, Hiroshi Ueda, Ambassador of Japan to Romania, commented that “Japan and Romania have strengthened their friendship, especially in recent years, based on shared values such as rule of law, democracy, respect for human rights, and open economy.”

According to media, Japan is the largest Asian investor in Romania. 397 commercial companies with Japanese capital currently operate in the country, generating over 40,000 jobs.

By the Romanian President’s second leg of the tour in Singapore, one could say that ASEAN, as a whole, will become a new vibrant bilateral bridge in the foreign policy of Romania. Bucharest is very active in ASEM, EU-ASEAN relations and is paying a relevant importance to the direct bilateral relations with all ten ASEAN member countries.

President Iohannis met the Singaporean President, Halimah Yacob, and the country’s Prime Minister, Lee Hsien Loong. According to the Romanian Presidential Administration, the visit aimed “to boost bilateral relations, in accordance with their potential, especially in the economic-investment plan”, and included “the intensification of cooperation in the fields of IT, education, research, food security, connectivity, cyber security and high technologies, combating climate change and green transition.”

Certainly, Romania’s intensified diplomatic engagement with Asian countries in 2023 represents a foreign policy trend which debuted in 2022. Last year, the bilateral relations between Romania and the Asian countries have been injected with vitality through the high level contacts among their respective high-level officials.

Daud Ali, Ambassador of Bangladesh to Romania, commended the “re-opening in July 2020 of the Bangladesh Embassy in Romania” and stressed that the “year 2021 marked the fostering of bilateral relations with the Romania visit of Bangladesh Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen at the invitation of his Romanian counterpart Bogdan Aurescu.” (see https://www.irsea.ro/Bangladesh-Romania-Relations/)

Han Chunlin, Ambassador of China to Romania, showcased his intention to "work with the Romanian side to strengthen confidence, build consensus, and put every effort to build a sustained, stable and healthy bilateral relationship, and bring more benefits to the two countries and peoples" in the ambit of China-Romania Comprehensive Friendly and Cooperative Partnership. (see https://www.irsea.ro/China-Romania-Relations/)

According to Rahul Shrivastava, Ambassador of India to Romania, “Prime Minister Modi had a telephonic conversation with Prime Minister Ciucă in February last year. Our Minister of External Affairs had a bilateral meeting Foreign Minister Aurescu also in February 2022 in Munich. (...) Parliamentarians of India and Romania met online in June 2022.” (see https://www.irsea.ro/India-Romania/)

Amhar Azeth, former Ambassador of Indonesia to Romania, stressed that “Indonesia and Romania have many opportunities for collaboration in a wide range of industries, including manufacturing, agriculture, renewable energy, military armament, and weaponry. By working together, these two countries can share knowledge and expertise, create new jobs, and accelerate economic growth.” (see https://www.irsea.ro/Indonesia-Romania/)

Relations with Republic of Korea have also been given an impetus in 2022. Prime Minister Nicolae Ciucă paid an official visit to the Republic of Korea, alongside a parliamentary delegation led by the speaker of the Deputies’ Chamber, Marcel Ciolacu. Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca met with his South Korean counterpart, Han Duck-soo, and the Speaker of the Deputies’ Chamber Marcel Ciolacu met the South Korean Prime Minister Han Duck-soo. The senior officials from both countries discussed about the strategic partnership between Romania and the Republic of Korea.

Dr. Zafar Iqbal, Ambassador of Pakistan to Romania, also noted an “increasing frequency of exchange of visits at official level”. According to the Ambassador of Pakistan, “Last year, the Foreign Minister of Pakistan visited Romania, the first visit at the level of Foreign Minister in decades, and we are looking forward to a similar visit by the Foreign Minister of Romania to Pakistan. We can say that now we have a reopening in the direction of building a stronger bilateral engagement.” (see https://www.irsea.ro/Pakistan-Romania/)

Do Duc Thanh, Ambassador of Vietnam to Romania, equally appreciated the “consolidated and flourished” bilateral traditional friendship between Romania and Vietnam as well as the “active role played by Romania, as the President of the European Union Council in 2019, in the signing and ratification of the Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) and the Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA) between the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam and the European Union”. (see https://www.irsea.ro/Vietnam-Romania/)

Without ignoring the urgent political necessity to entertain diplomatic demarches towards China in order to facilitate the restoring of peace in Ukraine, which was the most deliberated subject in the international analysis, the economic criteria and commercial interests were, in our opinion, the leading aims of the so important and fast moving visits to China by several European leaders.

In the same manner, Romania should target the enchasing of trade and economic cooperation with all countries from Asia-Pacific and particularly with the ASEAN member states, were Romanian products and know-how are very well known and appreciated; at the same time the economic progress and the natural resources in the region are of a great value for the Romanian economy. One should not neglect the competition. The success rests on the intensifying of the high level political contacts, which by any analysis will come out of being sporadic or totally absent. Even the trade missions are not that very constant and abundant. The trade with all ten ASEAN countries is insignificant. The Romanian Diplomatic Missions have very highly qualified Ambassadors and Head of the Missions, but they are short of sufficient human resources. The Economic Councilors are only in a few Embassies.

As the bilateral relations between Romania and the Asian countries are free of direct political issues and with a rich history and dynamic developments over many years, the new signals from Bucharest indicate a clear-cut direction toward reviving the relations with Asia.

IRSEA was and continues to be an ardent supporter of developing a direct bilateral links between Romania and ASEAN, much richer than concurrently accrediting her Ambassador in Jakarta to the ASEAN Secretariat , being as a complimentary segment of the role of Romania within the context of EU-ASEAN partnership. It could not be a singular or strange development. However, it is necessary to follow the ASEAN procedure which requires signing of the ASEAN’s Treaty of Amity and Cooperation (TAC).

Initially signed by the ASEAN member states in 1976, i.e. Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, and the Philippines, TAC has grown a global dimension having been signed by non-ASEAN members such as Australia, Canada, China, European Union, France, Germany, India, Japan, New Zealand, Peru, Russia, South Korea and the United States, Ukraine, inter alia. The signatory parties are guided by the basic principles, also enlisted in the UN Charter, of mutual respect, sovereignty, equality and territorial integrity. The treaty promotes non-interference from external parties, peaceful settlement of differences or disputes and effective cooperation among members.

The trend of high level official visits between European and Asian leaders, started in 2022 and consolidated in 2023, conveys a clear intention of Europe and Romania to re-inject vitality in their relations with Asian countries, both at bilateral as well as multilateral level. In context, it becomes a priority for all actors to develop a pragmatic framework in which to work with all Asian countries, in order to be able to cooperate in the complex issues which increasingly mark the geopolitical arena in both continents.

Romania's bilateral relations with countries in Asia and direct bilateral relations with ASEAN are not only a significant part of the country's rich diplomatic history, but also a defining milestone in Romania's European identity.

* A career diplomat with over four decades of diplomatic service, a specialist on Southeast Asia and ASEAN, speaker of Bahasa Indonesia, Russian and English, Ambassador (p) Gheorghe Savuica represented Romania as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Indonesia and Pakistan and Chief of Mission to Sri Lanka, Malaysia, the Philippines, Cyprus, Finland and Estonia.

Ambassador (p) Savuica is a former Director of the Asia Pacific Division and former Director General of the Asia Pacific, Near and Middle East, Africa and Latin America Department of the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

He published multiple articles, thought-pieces and commentaries reflecting his views on current evolutions in International Affairs and the ongoing developments related to the greater scope of Europe-Asia relations. He authored several major chapters in edited volumes on Romania’s Foreign Policy, published by the Romanian Academy.

In 2011, Ambassador (p) Savuica has received the "Grigore Gafencu" Award on behalf of the Academy of Romanian Scholars (Academia Oamenilor de Ştiinţă din România). His Excellency is also a lifetime member of the Society of Asian Civilisations, Islamabad, and Institute for Maritime and Strategic Studies, Jakarta. He is the receiver of the prestigious Excellence Award on behalf of the Faculty of International Business and Economics, Bucharest University of Economic Studies.

Ambassador Savuica has established the Romania - Malaysia Chamber of Commerce and Industry in 2008. He is also the President and Founder of the Romanian Institute for Europe-Asia Studies (IRSEA).

Ambassador (p) Savuica is a graduate of Moscow State Institute of International Relations. A former athlete, he received numerous national and regional accolades as handball player, skier and self-defence fighter. Ambassador Savuica is married and has two daughters, one granddaughter and one grandson.