The European Union warned China about helping Russia with cyberattacks and disinformation operations in Ukraine, as the block engages in conversation with the Asian country over a future bilateral summit.
The warning came from European Union digital commissioner Věra Jourová during a meeting in a visit in Beijing with China’s Vice Prime Minister Zhang Guoqing. She told POLITICO that China’s interaction with Russia on the war with Ukraine will be a “ determining factor for EU-China relations going forward.” Jourová also asked Zhang for cooperation to avoid “malicious” cyberattacks.
In February the European Commission anti-disinformation unit Stratcom pointed at Russian and China as key supporters of anti-Ukraine propaganda. More recently, both Meta and Microsoft revealed that China was behind to several disinformation operations to discredit the West on social media. According to Jourová, China is functioning as an amplifier of Russian propaganda against Ukraine.
The meeting was aimed at laying the foundation for a bilateral meeting in the upcoming months. The commissioner and the Chinese VP also talked about AI regulations and human rights. Specifically, the EU plans to ban facial recognition in public spaces and social scoring. Despite their different views on the topic, Jourová and Zhang agreed on working with the United Nations and its process regarding AI.
