Understanding lost in distortions of translation

It was good to hear European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen call for the de-risking of EU-China relations in a speech she made at a think tank forum on Thursday.

However, although trying to demonstrate the European Union has an independent China policy, her argument to sell that point is a familiar one, as it has been heard many times from Washington. No wonder the EU leader could afford to analyze China's diplomacy and socioeconomic policies without mentioning the US' influence on them.

If there was anything differentiating her speech from one coming from Washington, it was her frequent use of direct quotes from President Xi Jinping to make her argument sound more persuasive — although they were taken out of context to distort the meaning.