EXCELSIOR (Mexico): Spain will end differences with China

MADRID, 1 of March.— The tension between Spain and China will end in months thanks to the reform of Spanish judicial powers, with which the government seeks the efficiency of the courts, although his detractors believe that it will only prove that justice has a price.

The Spanish Congress, dominated by the ruling party (People's Party), approved the reform of universal justice on Thursday, with the opposition against. with this, Spanish courts will withdraw from cases such as China's actions in Tibet.

So, Mariano Rajoy's Executive will relieve the tension that arose when the National Court made the “wrong decision” to order the arrest of former rulers of the People's Republic of China in order to judge whether their actions in Tibet constituted crimes against humanity, highlighted the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Hua Chunying.

Thubten Wangchen, representative of the Tibetan Parliament in exile and nationalized Spanish, He was the one who took the former Chinese leaders to the National Court.

Until now, Wangchen is torn between a relative satisfaction for “having disclosed what happened and is happening in Tibet” and the shame because “the Rajoy government made an unworthy decision for economic reasons”, explained to this medium.

The tension, added to the “historic lack of ambition in diplomatic relations”, posed “new problems in the relationship between China and Spain, that was believed to be stable and promising”, but that “without the appropriate movements it can fail before becoming profitable”, said the director of the Chinese Policy Observatory, Julio Rios

Given this conflict of interest, Antonio Remiro, Professor of International Law, It is forceful and affirms that the reform involves “the imposition of political and economic interests over ethical and constitutional values.”.

Remiro's vision is not strange. Even the opposition to the government and several associations see the shadow of unconstitutionality hanging over the reform; since it can be confronted with articles of the Constitution and some international and binding conventions, commented to Excelsior Professor of International Law Antoni Pigrau.

This reform will also have an impact on other pending trials, which will have an effect on the public image of the government, because it leaves in suspense cases of great public interest such as the death of the Spanish photojournalist José Couso in Iraq, trials against Nazi guards implicated in the Holocaust or accusations of war crimes in the Sahara.

Such a controversial decision means that there is no shortage of people who speculate about the relations between Spain and China. However, Their bilateral relations have a component more of future ambitions than of realities.

Relations with China

in 2013 diplomatic relations between Spain and China fulfilled 40 years. According to Xulio Ríos, Four decades were not enough to “achieve the existing expectations and potentialities that are slowly improving to this day.”.

Something that has grown continuously is Chinese interest in European sovereign debt. In the Spanish case it is worth remembering the “breaths” than the yuan, chinese currency, occurred in difficult periods such as 2011.

Currently, The competent Ministries do not provide clear data on how much public debt is in Chinese hands. However, in 2010, before heavy investments from the Asian country, was estimated to be around 17%. Thus, Various sources do not believe that today it will drop 20%, that is to say, approximately 191 billion euros.

In the case of trade relations between China and Spain, there are declines, at least in total figures, for the European country. The trade balance, carried out until November 2013, showed a negative balance of more than 12 mil 600 million euros for Spain, according to data from the Secretary of State for Spanish Commerce.

The focus shifts when viewing these relationships in relative terms., since Spain represents only 0.7% China's global export volume. While, China represents 1.7% of the amount of Spanish exports.

That is to say, when comparing the total data, the relationship seems deficient; however, by putting it into relative terms, Spain is somewhat more dependent on trade with China. Although the figures are almost symbolic when compared with other trade flows.

After these figures are almost 12 thousand Spanish companies that maintain export business with China, of which 600 are established in the country, according to the Spanish Confederation of Business Organizations (CEOE).

The president of the international branch of the CEOE, Jesus Banegas, He told this newspaper that the Confederation “sees China as the most important and dynamic market in the world”.

The president of CEOE Internacional explained that China offers two great opportunities: sectors with greater demand such as fashion,  where Spanish companies already have experience, and the possibility of manufacturing and innovating with internationally competitive costs.

According to Banegas, China would be an ideal scenario for Spanish companies to follow the prevailing route during these times of crisis: the internationalization of your businesses. She further , It is shown as a market where we can follow the recipe that various international organizations have given to achieve the desired growth.: more exports.

Despite the prospects, one should be cautious, Well, the International Monetary Fund has already called for attention to the Asian country to cool its dependence on investment and try to link its growth to domestic consumption..

Image in play

The great harmony between China and Spain in previous years had Spanish neutrality as a key component. Xulio Ríos recalled how Spain distanced itself from the major European capitals when it came to addressing issues such as the Tiananmen massacre in 1989.

Spanish neutrality led Madrid to be considered “China's best friend in Europe for many of its leaders”, according to Rios. Something that has been partially clouded by the Tibetan case.

About the future of this tune, Banegas stated that “fortunately Spain is not one of the countries most critical of Chinese policy and has an increasingly better political and commercial climate.”.

The Tibetan case and the Spanish reform not only affect relations between China and Spain, For international law expert Antonio Pigrau, they also have an effect of consecrating impunity in cases in which the victims will become invisible..

Antonio Remiro explained that the government's determination leaves it as a group of "rulers of a modest country whose legs tremble when they are called to order by the leaders of powers capable of harming their political or economic interests.".

Various sources indicate that this case is an extension of what happened in the government of the socialist Rodríguez Zapatero when in 2009 limited international justice to areas of Spanish interest.

At that time, an agreement was made with other political forces to reform, But on this occasion the Spanish government could pay a high price if its detractors are able to demonstrate that this reform violates international conventions such as the Geneva Convention or constitutional rights such as judicial protection included in the article. 24 of the Constitution.

What led Mariano Rajoy and his team to reform universal justice and the cost he must pay for it is today a conflict of opinions. However, For Remiro, the fact remains that “the journey of universal jurisdiction concludes in Spain with this reform”.