This year China and Austria celebrate the 35th anniversary of their formal diplomatic relations. Focusing on bilateral ties and other hotspot issues, Dr. Hans Dietmar Schweisgut, Ambassador of Austria to China, recently sat down with Beijing Review reporter Ding Zhitao.
Beijing Review: This year witnesses the 35th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and Austria. How do you evaluate the development of bilateral relations?
Dr. Hans Dietmar Schweisgut: Relations between the two countries have developed very well. In the past years we saw many high-level visits in both directions, including the successful China trip of Chancellor Wolfgang Schussel in April 2005.
In addition, we are very happy with the development of bilateral economic and business relations. China is now Austria’s most important trading partner in Asia. We have about 260 Austrian companies operating in China and our investment in China is increasing all the time.
Austria and China also have seen a significant increase in cultural relations. A cultural office at the Austrian Embassy was opened in 2004, underlining an important agenda.
Cooperation in areas like higher education, university partnerships, science and technology shows the breadth of our relations in this area. I would say we are on the right path.
You mentioned trade relations. In what way do you think the two countries could further cement their trade ties and address the trade imbalance?
It is true that we have a very big trade deficit with China. But quite honestly, we should not do much worrying about a bilateral trade deficit.
From an economic point of view, it does not make much sense to look only at trade relations with one country. Austria’s overall trade is more or less balanced, because we have a surplus with some countries and we have deficits with others. So our aim with regard to China is not to restrict imports from China. We want to boost our own exports.
We need to encourage our companies to do more; on the other hand, we are concerned about a number of obstacles hindering access to the Chinese market. This also affects Austrian companies in areas like banking, financial services, telecommunications, construction and IPR protection. Government procurement is another issue. We hope that China will do more to open the markets in those areas and honor its WTO commitment.
What steps is Austria taking to promote the country as a tourist destination for Chinese travelers?
If you look at the number of Chinese tourists to Europe, Austria’s position is not bad. Last year almost 180,000 Chinese tourists visited Austria, not a large amount, but we are among the top three or four of all destinations in Europe. We are making additional efforts to market Austria as a tourist destination in China. After Beijing we opened a new tourist office in Shanghai. They now design special tourist packages and programs of interest to Chinese tourists. There is also a lot of information on Austria available in Chinese, but we need to improve Chinese-language signs in shops and provide Chinese food in Austrian hotels, which receive regular groups of Chinese tourists.
Recently, the Sino-Austrian Technology Park was launched in Vienna. What’re your expectations on its role in boosting bilateral cooperation?
I think it is a very good project. So far we have had quite a bit of Austrian investment in China, but there has not really been much investment from China in Austria or Europe.
Also in terms of technology cooperation, so far it is mainly technology transfer from Austria to China. But there are a number of areas where Chinese technology is becoming more important and more competitive. So I think through this technology park, we can match Austrian and Chinese technology and business skills and see where our interests are of a complementary nature.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is a household name in China. As activities are held in your home country to celebrate his 250th birthday, are there any special events in China to mark this important Austrian occasion?
We have had a number of very successful events to mark Mozart’s birthday. We started in January with an international birthday party in Beijing.
Musical birthday parties always work well in China. We had two young musicians from Austria play here in a special concert, along with well-known Chinese pianist Lang Lang, who is also famous in Austria. This shows that musicians from both countries can work and play together.
The Vienna Boys Choir will arrive in October, in addition to the visits of the Mozarteum Orchestra and the Vienna Chamber Orchestra this fall. So we will also have a series of concerts marking Mozart’s birthday in the second half of this year.
While it’s important to celebrate the 250th anniversary of Mozart, it is even more important to get something out of it for the future. I therefore was very happy to support the Central Conservatory for Music in Beijing organizing a Mozart Week this spring with an excellent program and starring many talented young artists.
In addition, a special scholarship program for Chinese music students and cooperation projects between the conservatories in China and Austrian music universities are under way.
Were celebrations planned for Sigmund Freud’s birthday?
Freud is not as well known in China as Mozart. But he has great significance even now. In recent years, I think you could see a sort of Freud renaissance all over the world. Therefore we used the occasion of his 150th birthday for a large symposium of Austrian and Chinese experts at Peking University.
A joint study program on Freud between the Austrian Sigmund Freud University and Peking University is now also being prepared.
While it is very important to celebrate great anniversaries, it is even more important to implement programs so that both sides can gain something for the future.
China has been conducting many strategic dialogues with partners, like Japan, the United States and the EU. What is unique about the China-EU Strategic Dialogue?
Let me first say that the EU and the United States have been partners for a long time. The same is true for Canada and Japan, and even Russia, which is a close geographical neighbor. When it comes to China it is a bit different. Although the EU started diplomatic relations with China in 1985, China’s rise is a fairly recent phenomenon. If you look at trade and investment between China and the EU, it only really took off after China’s entry into the WTO in 2001. You could say that China and the EU are partners, which in recent years have gained weight on the world stage. With the introduction of the euro in 2001, the bloc’s enlargement in 2004 and the formation of a coherent foreign and security policy, the EU--like China--is now a global player. It, therefore, makes sense that two rising forces cooperate on bilateral and international issues.
Second, the EU and China are not geographical neighbors. The EU does not have military presence in Asia, nor does China outside its own borders. Therefore, we are not strategic rivals in any sense. This makes it earlier to look at many issues in a similar way. We are both committed to a multilateral international system. We are both committed to a strong United Nations. We are both committed to peaceful resolution of conflicts and share a similar outlook on many important issues.
Third, both the EU and China realize that the future of the world is being increasingly determined, not so much by military force, but by a number of issues, which are important for the survival of the human race, for example, climate change, environmental degradation, energy supply, contagious diseases and the development of Africa. These are all issues where we can and must join forces and work together.
Fourth, we have now more than 20 dialogues with frequent meetings at all levels. They cover topics like science, technology, energy, climate change, the environment and education.
So I think while the strategic dialogue between the EU and China is a young one, it is maybe developing even faster than some of the others. Despite the fact that we have different political systems we share many common interests.
Austria held the presidency of the Council of the EU in the first half of 2006. What is your assessment of Austria’s performance?
I’m a representative of Austria, so of course I think our presidency was successful. But even if you looked at it critically, I think there were a number of important developments.
Six months are a short period of time. You cannot change the EU, or the world, in six months. The EU entered a difficult period last year, the main reason being the rejection by France and the Netherlands of a proposed European constitution. There also was no agreement on the future of the financing of the EU. It was only at the end of last year that the main outline of the budget 2007-13 was agreed upon.
The main task for the Austrian presidency was to again instill confidence in the European integration project, and to make sure that the financial agreement was put into a solid framework. This was achieved. We also focused on some important economic issues like employment and making the EU more competitive. One important development to this end was the agreement on the liberalization of services in the EU.
In terms of foreign policy, it’s important to show that those parts of Europe, which are not yet members of the EU, also have a European perspective, as they are next in line to join the EU. Negotiations have begun with Croatia and Turkey, and Macedonia has already been given the status of a candidate. During the Austrian presidency there were a number of important summits, including those with Russia, Japan, Latin America and the United States, as well as a successful meeting with China at foreign ministerial level. Intensive dialogues with all the other countries in this area were also initiated. It was also important to see that the trans-Atlantic alliance between Europe and the United States stabilized.
To sum up, increasing the status of the EU in the world, instilling confidence in the European project and putting the EU on the right track to make it more competitive in economic terms are major achievements.
What are your expectations on the European integration?
You know some people are thinking that without a European constitution, the EU cannot function. But this is not true. The EU is functioning quite well. The main reason why we need the treaty is to strengthen the EU’s identity. Although there is no agreement yet on the constitution, there is, I believe, a renewed faith in the European project. I personally and strongly believe in European integration. We’ve come a long way with an integrated economic area, a single currency, a common foreign and security policy and without internal borders, but we still have a long way to go.