MEP cuts through anti-China rhetoric

Mick Wallace, a Member of the European Parliament, has never been to China, but his tweets and speeches refuting anti-China rhetoric have been widely reported by Chinese news outlets and social media.

The 66-year-old Irish politician, with his signature wild hair, wants to make it clear that while he has challenged the anti-China rhetoric in the European Parliament, he is not favoring any government. He is working against wars and he likes to see people get along with each other.

Wallace has also challenged the anti-Syria, anti-Iran and anti-Venezuela rhetoric directed at countries that refuse to allow the United States to dictate them.

He describes the US sanctions imposed on those countries as "a form of war" and said the US sanctions on dozens of countries are mostly illegal. "They don't comply with the UN Charter," he said.

He stresses that the international laws he talks about are those derived from the UN Charter, not the so－called international rules-based order set by the West.

Wallace has praised China for doing a good job looking after the country. "Taking 750 million people out of poverty is unprecedented in human history. That, for me, is the great achievement of China," he said.

He dismisses the notion that China is a threat.

"I like to remind people that China has not dropped a bomb on anyone in 40 years. And the Americans are dropping bombs on people every day," he said. He was likely referring to a Pentagon report in November that showed that the US and its allies dropped more than 337,000 bombs and missiles on other countries over the past 20 years, an average of 46 strikes a day.

"There is no Chinese warship off the coast of America, or off the coast of Europe, either, as far as I know. I don't see how any rational person could argue that China is a security threat to the people of America," he said.

Wallace said the European Union would be "stupid" to fight with China, the EU's largest trade partner.

"We don't expect you to bomb us. We don't expect you to invade us. Why should we be fighting with China. It does not make any sense," he said.

He said that China's potential to become a global financial powerhouse has been viewed by the US as a threat to its global supremacy.

"I don't think any country was accused of being too successful before," Wallace said.

"You (China) haven't done it by bombing other countries. You haven't done it by imposing crippling sanctions on other countries. You've done it with hard work."