From August 30th to September 1st, the 19th annual “GLOBSEC Global Security Forum” was held in the Czech capital, Prague. Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen attended the forum and emphasized the need for Europe to reduce its reliance on Chinese technology, drawing lessons from previous over-dependence on Russian oil and gas.
Frederiksen, in an interview reported by the Financial Times on Tuesday, urged Europeans to change their perspectives on the world. She stressed the importance of changing “our attitude, changing the way we view the world based on peacetime.” She called on people to recognize the role played by China in allowing Russia to invade Ukraine over the past two years.
“I believe that without China’s (CCP) assistance, Russia would not have been able to continue this full-scale war and still pose military threats to other regions of the world,” she said.
She pointed out that Europe must increase investment in homegrown technology. “We have been overly reliant on Russian natural gas and oil, and now we are repeating the same mistake in many areas with China,” she noted.
Czech President Petr Pavel, who chaired the forum, also stated, “Of all countries, China (CCP) has the most ability to stop Russian aggression in Ukraine.”
During the forum, Taiwan’s Secretary-General of the National Security Council David Tawei Lee stated that Europe should establish “resilient democratic supply chains” with like-minded partners such as the United States, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan to reduce reliance on China.
To support Ukraine in resisting Russian aggression, Frederiksen urged Western allies to remove the “red lines” drawn when providing weapons to Ukraine. “We don’t have time to delay anymore,” she said. “When facing a war like Ukraine’s, the idea of setting red lines will only give the enemy better cards…restricting weapon donations is a mistake…we should give Ukraine what they need.”
Frederiksen, a Danish politician, has been the leader of the Social Democratic Party since June 2015 and has been serving as the Prime Minister of Denmark since June 2019. She is the second woman to hold both positions and the youngest Prime Minister in Danish history. Currently, she is the longest-serving female government leader in the EU.