In recent days, the issue that has been widely discussed is undoubtedly the European Union's imposition of tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles. When European and American products invade the Chinese market, they champion the slogan of free trade, but when Chinese products capture the European and American markets, they raise the banner of trade protection.

For China, the current threats are not only from Europe and America but also from Turkey, which has been flip-flopping between the US and the West, threatening to impose a 40% tariff on Chinese cars. Has Turkey, which has always wanted to join the BRICS, now decided to use this move to coerce China into making concessions? Is history about to repeat itself with the Varyag incident?

Taking advantage of the situation alongside the EU, on October 4th, the European Union passed the bill to impose tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles with ten votes in favor, five against, and twelve abstentions. China has argued its case based on reason, but at a critical moment, Turkey, which has always wanted to join the BRICS, has taken an even more severe stance than the EU.

As a member of NATO, Turkey once aspired to join the European Union, but the high threshold of the EU prevented Turkey from entering. In recent years, with the frequent interest rate hikes and cuts by the United States, the hollowing out of American manufacturing has become severe, and the prosperous financial sector does not match with the manufacturing industry. The US economy has been marked with signs of recession, and more critically, the high debt of the United States has not yet found a solution. In the international landscape, the US is deeply entangled in the Middle East and the Russo-Ukrainian war.

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In stark contrast, China's influence is growing, and the BRICS organization, including China, has become an indispensable part of international affairs. Moreover, if the BRICS were to introduce a new payment system, it would be a heavy blow to the long-standing US hegemony that has dominated the world.

A trend of "East rising, West falling" is becoming increasingly apparent. As a member of NATO, Turkey has conceived the idea of joining the BRICS.

How much sincerity is involved in this is clear to everyone.

However, before even joining the BRICS, Turkey has already presented China with a grand gift.During the negotiations between China and the European Union over tariffs, Turkey is proposing to impose an additional 40% tariff on electric vehicles and other vehicles imported from China, a move that is even more severe than that of the EU.

Turkey justifies this action by claiming it is necessary to protect its domestic automotive industry and to reduce its current account deficit.

However, the reality is that China's exports to Turkey have already significantly decreased since Turkey began imposing additional tariffs on Chinese automobiles. For instance, in the first eight months of this year, nearly 96,000 vehicles were exported to Turkey. Before Turkey took measures against Chinese automobiles, which was in the first four months, nearly 77,000 vehicles were exported to Turkey.

This means that since Turkey has been considering imposing additional tariffs on Chinese automobiles, the number of Chinese vehicles exported to Turkey has greatly diminished. At this point, whether the Turkish government is using this as a pretext to protect its domestic automotive industry or to take advantage of the tariff war between China and the EU by adding insult to injury is self-evident.

Is history about to repeat itself with the Varyag incident?

A $1 billion transit fee?

In fact, this is not the first time Turkey has acted in an unscrupulous manner when our country faced an emergency. A long time ago, after our country purchased the aircraft carrier named Varyag from Ukraine and attempted to transport it back to our country, it encountered multiple obstructions from the Turkish government while passing through the Turkish Straits, which was a necessary route. Eventually, they demanded an exorbitant transit fee of $1 billion. What exactly happened in this case?Speaking of the Varyag, the predecessor of China's first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, was the Varyag itself. At that time, China went through great efforts to purchase the Varyag from Ukraine. The United States was constantly exerting pressure on Ukraine, and one can imagine how difficult the process of China acquiring the Varyag was.

Even though the ship was originally equipped with a variety of weapons and equipment, all of them had been dismantled, leaving it almost as an empty shell. However, when China wanted to transport it back, what should have been a smooth journey home became fraught with difficulties due to Turkey's obstruction.

Turkey at that time was an unambiguous pro-American faction, especially as the Soviet Union was dissolving and the United States was the sole superpower.

Turkey even fabricated a pretext, claiming that our Varyag would clog their Aegean Sea international waterway because our ship was too wide and might interfere with the normal operation of the shipping lanes.

However, the Varyag was only about seventy meters wide, while the narrowest part of the Aegean Sea on the Turkish side was more than seven hundred meters wide. How could there possibly be a situation where too many ships would cause a blockage?

Therefore, this was purely an excuse from Turkey.

Moreover, Turkey did not want to fall out with the United States, so this problem had to be resolved by us.

In order to bring the Varyag back smoothly, we had to transfer it to a Ukrainian port for temporary storage.

This storage lasted for more than two years, costing a significant amount of money daily.

Finally, after extensive negotiations, Turkey finally agreed to relax its stance. They proposed all sorts of strange conditions, such as demanding that we pay them a $1 billion guarantee before allowing the Varyag to pass.It should be known that at the time, the purchase of the Varyag only cost 20 million US dollars. Turkey immediately made an exorbitant demand, asking for a billion-dollar guarantee.

China naturally would not agree, and this billion dollars were ultimately not paid. At that time, thanks to Greece, the Varyag finally returned smoothly to Chinese territory.

Now, Turkey is repeating its old tricks, starting with imposing a 40% tariff on Chinese cars. In response to Turkey's actions, China's Ministry of Commerce has taken it to the WTO. This move by China has announced to the outside world that China has warned Turkey and is legal and reasonable. If Turkey still insists on being stubborn, then our country has every reason to counterattack.

As a member of NATO, Turkey wants to stand on the side of the West while also wanting to join the BRICS organization. The calculation of "eating both East and West" is indeed very good, but can Turkey achieve its wish?

Eating Both East and West

In the middle of last month, Turkish President Erdogan repeatedly stated in public that even facing the situation of "facing west", they, Turkey, will resolutely not abandon those "Eastern relations" marked by "BRICS countries" and "Shanghai Cooperation Organization".

In fact, as an important bridge connecting Europe and Asia, Turkey has decided to "please both sides" this time, wanting to integrate into the hopeful "BRICS countries" family, while also firmly expressing its "Western status".

From the perspective of national interests, there is nothing to criticize about Turkey's actions. After all, in this turbulent era, it is the responsibility of leaders to strive for the greatest benefits for their own country.

However, this Turkish president has obviously chosen a way that may cause a sensation internationally to deal with the problem. This not only cannot alleviate the long-existing trade tensions between the two countries, but may further worsen the situation.

For us China, Turkey's wishful thinking is not so easy to achieve, especially when the Ministry of Commerce has clearly stated that it will use "all available methods" to protect the legal interests of our Chinese-funded enterprises, the result is already obvious.