By Nikos Konstandaras
It did not take long for the increasing rivalry between the two great powers of our age to reach our shores. We might have begun to get used to the skirmishes between the United States and China at the highest level, and so, at first sight, we may not have given much consideration to the thoughts that Kimberly Guilfoyle expressed recently as to how US investments could reduce Chinese influence in Piraeus.
But the unusually sharp response from the Chinese Embassy in Athens showed Beijing’s annoyance and, suddenly, Greece found itself at the center of the clash of two giants. The new US ambassador conceded that when the Chinese conglomerate COSCO signed a deal to take over part of Piraeus’ commercial harbor no one else was interested. This may have been intended as a gesture of “understanding” toward the Greeks. It certainly did not soften the Chinese Embassy’s reaction, which read into Guilfoyle’s statements “the wily desire of the United States to serve their own geopolitical interests, exploiting the port of Piraeus and even Greece itself.”
Successive Greek governments have walked a careful path in relations with China, given our country’s membership of NATO and the European Union (which had expressed concern at China’s inroads in Greece). After COSCO took over part of Piraeus in 2009, relations between Greece and China kept growing stronger. The Chinese acquired a majority share in the Piraeus Port Authority in 2016; Greece joined the group of 16 countries from Eastern and Southeastern Europe that are close to China; in 2019 Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras attended the Beijing forum on the Belt and Road Initiative.
The government’s careful position is part of this framework – it will honor its commitments with China and is also a strategic partner of the United States. However careful Greece may be though, it’s a tough game that’s being played. With the EU absent, Greece is called on to chart a course through the clashing rocks of the United States and China, between an old but unpredictable ally, and a rising but also unpredictable power. The way ahead demands skill and luck.
Source: eKathimerini