French President Francois Hollande began his visit to China on April 25. Accompanying Hollande are 260 members of his entourage, including 53 entrepreneurs. It seems that economic interests rank first for European politicians in their relationship with China.

Europeans' attitude toward China is "very pragmatic." However, we hope that in their eyes, being "pragmatic" does not mean being "calculating." In recent years, leaders of European countries took turns meeting the Dalai Lama. Other countries which at that time had no conflict with China took the opportunity to repair their relations with China. Who knows whether European countries will continue to keep playing these games?

The current scale of economic exchanges between China and Europe is unprecedented. However, the two sides' understandings toward the other's political values have become ambiguous. To Chinese people, Europe has become more remote. Names of many European leaders are very unfamiliar to Chinese people. Chinese people believe that "strategies" are very important, while influential strategists cannot currently be found in Europe.

In terms of the relationship between China and Europe, why did the French government of the time, led by Charles de Gaulle, recognize China first in Western countries? Definitely not for business opportunities. However, the political legacy he left still influences Chinese people's perceptions of France.

But currently, European politicians look increasingly like the yes-men of Washington's policies.

Maybe the decline of Europe has contributed to this. However, the Chinese public is not sure about how the decline of Europe and the short-sightedness of European politicians are related to one another.

The world is changing and Asia is rising. China has become the new engine of the global economy, which will definitely affect global politics. It seems that Europe is lagging in response to this. It is acting passively and even tries to reject this reality. European leaders just focus on current affairs and have no masterful reaction to China's rise and its goodwill in terms of developing bilateral relations.

Public opinion in Europe is easily excited when it comes to business deals with China, but they feel that they have gained the advantage because tensions with China caused by meeting the Dalai Lama are quickly dismissed.

European politicians' bias, quickly changing attitudes and insincerity can be seen in Sino-European relations. It is hard to believe that these politicians can lead Europe out of its predicaments.

We hope that President Hollande can get out of the conventional patterns and improve France, and even all of Europe's strategic baseline. Of course, the future of Europe does not depend on China solely. However, getting along with China is important to Europe's future development in the 21st century.